


Hope's Peak, Class 88 (we found love in a hopeful place)

by ShockWonder



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: (I figured that'd be the easiest way to make up for Teruya being missing in Class 86), Alternate Universe - Hope's Peak Academy (Dangan Ronpa), Chatting & Messaging, Dangan Ronpa S4 is Class 88, Dangan Ronpa S4 is my own cast, Danganronpa Another Ensemble is Class 86, F/F, F/M, FYI the reason Teruya's in class 87 and not 86 is because he did a trial enrollment, Fluff and Angst, Implied Sexual Content, Kissing, M/M, Slice of Life, Super Danganronpa Another 2 Ensemble is Class 87, a whole lot of people are going to need hugs, also some LGBT stuff, and Kouhei's alive in this AU! because there's no despair to get him killed by the bomb, because these group chats always have some mention of that, because we are also pure, he did seem pretty young imo when he joined, he's the ultimate investigator!, how contradictory lol, rated explicit because stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:00:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25662496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShockWonder/pseuds/ShockWonder
Summary: Due to the events of 2020, Jin Kirigiri adds more hope to his 88th class of Ultimates at Hope's Peak Academy. Five more students are added, making a total of 22 students.Watch as Class 88 explores their talents and experiences everything life has to offer in Hope's Peak Academy! It's a small world out there, but a lot of big shenanigans come out of it!This is a mix of a group chat and their actual lives in Hope's Peak Academy. There will be classes.Current arc: Hopeful Heart
Relationships: Chiebukuro Setsuka/Otonokoji Hibiki, Hatano Ayame/Tomori Kizuna, Hayashi Akira/Matsuo Keiko, Hirano Hachiro/Uchida Daisuke, Inori Kanata/Yamaguchi Kakeru, Iranami Satsuki/Kobashikawa Haruhiko, Kabuya Yoruko/Taira Sora, Kasai Shinji/Makunouchi Hajime, Kinjo Tsurugi/Kisaragi Yamato, Koruda Arrin/Shimizu Zenjin, Kurokawa Mikako/Mekaru Rei, Maeda Daichi/Taira Akane, Magorobi Emma/Mitsume Kokoro, Murakami Ryosuke/Takahashi Kara, OC/OC, Sannoji Mikado/Yomiuri Nikei, Shiba Denbe/Shin Hakuto
Comments: 8
Kudos: 30





	1. Late Letters and School Supply Shopping

**Author's Note:**

> And so begins the start of the group chat/school story! 
> 
> People will be referred to in the western style of first name/last name, instead of family name/first name. Also, there will be no honorifics used.
> 
> I apologize for not updating my other stories in a while. Online school was troublesome and I kept myself away from writing to help keep my grades up. It worked, luckily, and now I'm back!
> 
> Unfortunately, that came with a cost: I lost my inspiration to write the two stories that were already posted, and I'm so sorry.
> 
> To help try and recover my inspiration, I decided to get into the world of Danganronpa group chat fiction! I hope you guys enjoy!

It is amazing how much hope a single sheet of paper can offer.

The fact that humanity has progressed far enough to be able to produce a sheet of paper is quite astounding. The fact that said sheet of paper, which is covered in ink, came from a machine that was invented in the late 20th century during a period of time where hope could blossom, in the age of technology, is also quite impressive.

Most human beings would not consider this fact at all.

Which is understandable, for paper has become such a common thing, as well as quite a few other pieces of technology that have only come around in the last century.

But at this exact moment, 16-year-old Denbe Shiba thought about everything that had led up to this moment.

  
  
  


Denbe Shiba was not your average teenager.

During his first year of high school, he and his three best friends Akira Hayashi, Hakuto Shin, and Ryosuke Murakami, had already formed a band that went viral on the internet in under a week. They called it Wild Card, and had even given each other stage names related to the title of their band.

At the time, the band was simply just a sub-unit of their high school's musical ensemble. They were first-years at Midori Kuroba High at that time.

But due to their stellar performances, word about the band spread around, and soon enough, they managed to get a contract with a company that treated them well, as they were teenagers and still acted like such despite how busy their life was already. It was human nature.

Ryosuke figured that they should try to get scouted by Hope's Peak Academy, so they could train their Ultimates further. It might have been smooth sailing, had there not been an obstacle in the way: the famous duo known as Melody Rhythm, composed of twin sisters Hibiki and Kanade Otonokoji. They had made it into Hope's Peak Academy the previous year.

As a matter of fact, they were under the same company as Wild Card, too, so they got to hear the news straight from them.

They were definite competitors in terms of the music charts, despite them all being pretty friendly with each other to the point where they had even created a group chat. In fact, the six musicians held study sessions whenever they could.

But Melody Rhythm wasn't about to relent. The four of them understood why, given the fact that they were now Ultimates, but nevertheless, this made it harder for Wild Card.

Melody Rhythm did play with them sometimes to help them train more, but at this point, Denbe had figured they weren't gonna make it in.

And as expected, none of them got in. This disappointed them very much. They'd have to wait an entire year before they had the chance of getting accepted.

After all, they hadn't been accepted this year.

  
  
  


That is, until now.

Denbe started reading the letter.

  
  


* * *

**_2020/3/24_ **

**_To Denbe Shiba,_ **

**_The current events of 2020 have been disastrous, and have led to a major uprising in despair. At times like these, hope is necessary to bring everyone together and help the world recover from the aftermath of these events._ **

**_This is why the admissions board has decided to rethink your original rejection. After much more consideration, we have decided to accept you into our academy._ **

**_I apologize for the short notice, but I believe this addition is necessary to prepare for events that will follow._ **

**_Currently, Wild Card is dominating the charts in several different countries, and we think it would be beneficial if you four were able to spread the message of hope along with the other 17 Ultimates we have invited to Hope’s Peak this year._ **

**_We have also invited one other person in as well after reconsidering his original rejection. You will meet him when you attend Hope’s Peak in April._ **

**_Be prepared. Make sure that you are ready with all the necessary supplies and everything you will need, for you will be living on-campus._**

**_For the first day of school, please dress according to your talent, as it will easily designate your talents. Granted, you should already have some outfits coordinated, I'd hope._ **

**_Until then, I hope you’re prepared for three years of training and studies at one of the most prestigious academies in the world._ **

**_One more thing._ **

**_I also have a request._ **

**_For the opening ceremony in April, I would like Wild Card and Melody Rhythm to perform alongside Kaede Akamatsu, our Ultimate Pianist, to give the students a dose of much-needed hope. If you need to practice, our campus is always available._ **

**_As for your Ultimate, you are the Ultimate Vocalist of the 88th class of Hope’s Peak Academy. Congratulations._ **

  
  


**_Sincerely,_ **

**_Jin Kirigiri_ **

**_Hope’s Peak Academy_ **

****

* * *

“Oh, my god.”

Denbe’s golden-yellow eyes widened at the information inside the letter.

They'd done it.

Despite what they had originally thought, they'd done it.

They made it in.

“Oh, my god!”

Denbe immediately whipped out his cellphone and opened up his messaging app.

  
  


* * *

**Is This Your Card?**

_Tuesday, March 24th, 2020_

_9:37 AM_

**King:** HOLD THE FUCK UP

**King:** LOOK AT THE LETTER I JUST GOT

**King:** we-just-got-a-letter.jpg

**King:** THERE’S MORE IN OUR MAILBOX FOR THE REST OF YOU GUYS

**Jack:** ????

**Queen:** what the fuck is going on De

**Queen:** **...**

**Ace:** HOLY SHIT.

**Jack:** IS THIS FOR REAL?!

**Ace:** OH MY GOD.

**King:** HELL YEAH IT IS!

**Queen:** OH MY GOD, WE FUCKING GOT IN

**Queen:** HOLY CRAP!

**Queen:** @Ace HOLY CRAP RYO WE MADE IT INTO HOPE’S PEAK!

**Ace:** I’m shocked too, to be quite honest. I was NOT expecting that to happen at all, due to Melody Rhythm not wanting to relent, even though we wanted to get in too.

**Jack:** still mildly mad that you made me overwork myself a bit but god am I glad for it because it FUCKING WORKED

**Ace:** Everyone, thank you so much for your hard work. It's paid off.

**King:** Of course! We're sticking together no matter what

**King:** not to mention our company was totally on board with it, about as much as they were with HIbiki and Kanade

**Jack:** hell yeah!

**Queen:** wait

**Queen:** but now we have less than a month to prepare since the letter came on such short notice

**King:** OH FUCK

**Ace:** CRAP.

**Jack:** well shit

**Jack:** we didn’t even do our usual school supply shopping

**Ace:** Oh, damn it, I forgot about that!

**King:** at least we don’t need to buy uniforms because WE GOT IN AS ULTIMATES HELL YEAH

**Queen:** but I feel bad for the reserve course students

**Jack:** right, they’re actually heavily mistreated and I feel so bad for them

**Ace:** They have to pay a lot more money to get the same sort of education as other "average" students on a prestigious campus. Isn't that just terrible?

**Jack:** I wish we could do something about it but we’d probably get in trouble for it or cause several classes to get expelled

**Ace:** That isn’t something I’d like to happen. I am grateful that the headmaster does allow us to attend the school-funded parties together, if anything. But I do wish we could interact with them more.

**Queen:** Of course the fucking pandemic has to be an issue as well

**Queen:** right now we’re alright but other countries have a massive surge in cases

**Jack:** F

**King:** with that out of the way, we should probably get started on school shopping, right?

**Ace:** It’d be great if we could get started on that. Better to not procrastinate.

**Queen:** and you know firsthand about what happens if you procrastinate

**Ace:** OH COME ON THAT WAS BECAUSE I HAD A GENUINE REASON

**King:** your reason for holding off on practice was because you lost your drumsticks

**King:** and then you proceeded to post on your social media a photo IN WHICH WE COULD SEE YOUR PAIR OF DRUMSTICKS

**Jack:** and then he messaged us about 20 minutes after he sent the post saying “nvm I found them I’m a dumbass” LOL

**Queen:** With all that aside we should probably head to the mall to stock up

**Ace:** What about our fanbase? Won’t the Jokers recognize us?

**Jack:** no worries we can handle that we’re teens just like them

**King:** just, uh, make sure to all bring your caps, alright

**Ace:** About that…

**Jack:** oh ffs I’m gonna go help you search brb

**Queen:** Hang on I’m informing the twins about this sudden change

**King:** I’m coming with you to explain what happened

* * *

**Music HQ**

_Tuesday, March 24th, 2020_

_9:47 AM_

**fuck I dropped my crown:** @singing sis @strumming sis KANADE HIBIKI WE GOT IN SOMEHOW AND IT’S AMAZING TO EVEN THINK ABOUT IT

**singing sis:** OH, MY GOD, REALLY? BUT I THOUGHT YOU GUYS DIDN'T GET IN!

**king of the castle:** headmaster said that the pandemic was way too despair-inducing and the school needed an extra dose of hope

**king of the castle:** and bam we got in

**king of the castle:** AND WE’RE SUPPOSED TO PLAY AT THE OPENING CEREMONY ALONG WITH YOU GUYS

**strumming sis:** WAIT SERIOUSLY

**strumming sis:** HOLY SHIT AGRHOANDSDIUEFGREFGN AAAAAAAAA YESSSS

**21:** our CEO’s going to lose her shit

**singing sis:** True, she is a former alumni of Hope’s Peak and has also performed in the opening ceremony when she was there. As a first-year she dominated the stage!

**strumming sis:** we also had to perform in the opening ceremony our first year and I admire our CEO for having a lot of confidence on stage despite being a first year because HOLY SHIT THAT WAS NERVE-RACKING

**21:** what a queen, we picked the right entertainment company 100%

**strumming sis:** i.m. entertainment is the best we stan a queen that allows her artists to have a lot of freedom while also making sure they don’t fuck up

**fuck I dropped my crown:** we stan

**king of the castle:** absolutely

**Ace Ventura:** Well, I found my cap and I feel stupid as fuck.

**king of the castle:** where was it

**Ace Ventura:** I kept it in the fridge to make it cold.

**21:** you’re the only smart person here and yet you do stupid shit like this

**strumming sis:** smh

**strumming sis:** how many times do you need to lose your stuff before you actually learn from your mistakes

**fuck I dropped my crown:** don’t we just… share the same braincell

**singing sis:** Nah, pretty sure we all have brain cells.

**strumming sis:** okay sis I love you but you have no sense of humor sometimes

**singing sis:** Never mind, there’s an exception.

**strumming sis:** BITCH

**strumming sis:** >:(

**21:** well uh

**singing sis:** I JUST WANTED TO MAKE RYO FEEL BETTER FOR BEING DUMB! IS THAT NOT OKAY?

**Ace Ventura:** *cries in stupid*

**fuck I dropped my crown:** well, do you guys want to accompany us while we’re shopping for school supplies? we could make it a group trip

**singing sis:** Hell yeah!

**strumming sis:** YOU BET

**Ace Ventura:** Be at the train station by 10:30!

**fuck I dropped my crown:** WAIT THE FUCK UP GODDAMN IT

* * *

Ryosuke put down his phone and sighed. He hadn’t expected this sudden twist of events.

“Whew, man, I’m actually really excited now!” he yelled to Hakuto, who was sitting in Ryosuke’s bedroom and wearing an orange short-sleeved shirt, blue vest, khakis, and black socks. Hakuto’s black-and-blue high-top sneakers were back near the door of their group’s apartment (bought by their CEO and assigned to them, since they couldn’t pay for their own living arrangements yet), and currently, he was cleaning his blue glasses using his own shirt. A cap covered his wildly messy white hair.

“I’m glad we made it in. Thanks for the idea, Ryosuke, it was a great one!” he responded.

“No problem. I’m really glad we got in as Ultimates. I heard that the Reserve Course is extremely difficult. Harder than our course, even.”

“Really? That’s… terrible. They really are getting mistreated,” Denbe suddenly interrupted.

“I suppose that’s never gonna change, man. I guess we should head to the train station, right?”

“Right, Ryosuke. Let’s get ready!”

“HEY, WAIT FOR US!” Akira shouted from somewhere nearby. “NOT TO MENTION HIBIKI AND KANADE ALSO LIVE ON OUR FLOOR, SO YOU’LL BE DITCHING THEM TOO!”

Ignoring her, Ryosuke changed out of his old clothes and pulled on a red long-sleeved shirt, white jeans, and black socks.

  
He then headed out of his bedroom to retrieve his white cap and blue low-top sneakers.

Once he had both items on and had hidden as much of his long pink hair as possible under his cap, the two of them ventured out of their group’s apartment on the seventh floor, leaving the other four in the dust (which included Hibiki and Kanade), and headed for the elevator.

Once it arrived, the two stepped inside, pressed the button for the lobby, and soon, they were going down.

Ryosuke figured that the manager was probably sighing in relief at the fact that they weren’t going to be living in their apartment for a while. She didn’t need to watch them constantly to make sure the building didn’t catch on fire.

The lenses of Hakuto’s glasses darkened as they both stepped out of the apartment complex, perfectly concealing his emerald-green eyes from view. Ryosuke, likewise, had also brought sunglasses to keep anyone from seeing his own blue eyes.

  
  
  


After a short while of walking, they arrived at the station, paid for their tickets to the area near the mall, and waited for the rest of their group to show up. It was 10:03 at that point.

First came Denbe with a blue cap pulled over his black hair, and sunglasses to cover his amber-gold eyes. With that, he had a grey jacket with a blue short-sleeved shirt underneath, black pants, white socks, and black boots.

Soon after, Hibiki and Kanade came with matching pink sweaters, denim shorts, white socks, and white sneakers, masterfully covering their wildly-colored hair with the hoods of their sweaters.. They also had sunglasses.

Finally, Akira rushed in about 10 minutes before the train arrived with a white cap covering her long brown hair, and wearing a purple sweater, denim jeans, black socks, green high-top sneakers, and of course, sunglasses, to hide her purple eyes. Despite that, she shot a cold glare at Hakuto and Ryosuke, likely from ditching her.

“Perfect! That’s everyone!” Hakuto checked, ignoring the glare. All they needed to do was wait until the train arrived.

Luckily, no one recognized them thanks to the train station being dark, as well as their clothing.

The train arrived at the station, and everyone boarded. All six of them chose to sit near the back of the train, where they were sure not to be noticed.

The train took off, and everyone said nothing for the entire ride, in order to stay on a low profile.

  
  
  


As the train finally reached the station, the six teenage musicians were quick to leave the train before anyone recognized who they were.

They turned a few corners, ran around, tagged each other a few times, and before they knew it, they were at the Yume Mall, also called the Mall of Dreams.

The mall had three floors. All the floors had shopping and recreational activities, but the second floor was devoted mostly to food, and was lined with a lot of different food shops.

Without a second thought, the six of them headed inside with peps in their steps.

Immediately, they headed to the escalators to get to the third floor, where the office supply store called ‘Stationary Station’ was located.

Everyone explored a different aisle, looking for the right items to add to their supplies.

Akira was browsing through the folders section when a shriek was heard a couple aisles to her right. She rushed over to see Hakuto with a blue binder in his hands.

“Akira, look!” Hakuto shouted. As he turned over the binder, Akira noticed a very clear, blue, ace-of-spades on it.

“Oh, my god, are they already selling binders with our insignias?”

“You bet! Come here, they’ve got quite a few binders to offer!” Hakuto responded, nearly dragging Akira along with him to the aisle he had just been exploring.

Akira immediately gasped as she looked over the playing-card binders, immediately having a thought which she voiced aloud.

“Imagine playing giant poker with these binders!”

“Heh, imagine that,” Hakuto replied. “It would make it that much harder to hide your cards, and especially if you have glasses, because the binders would reflect off them. Basically, giant poker with binders would be a disaster.”

The two of them chuckled about it as Akira grabbed a purple queen-of-hearts binder and examined it.

“We’re really lucky, aren’t we? We’ve become so popular that we’ve got Wild Card-themed school supplies? What an achievement!” Akira thought aloud. Hakuto nodded his head in agreement.

“Y’know, it was like that for us too,” Kanade suddenly interrupted, from behind the two of them. “You’d think that it’d be weird to be selling merchandise related to your favorite bands,” she mentioned, showing them a pack of two pens with the twins’ symbols: a single eighth note and two connected sixteenth notes. Both pens had a gradient from pink to bright red.

“Whoa. That’s… really cool! Any notebooks?” Akira inquired.

“God, there’s a whole lot of them!” Kanade answered, bringing them over to the right aisle as she added, “Including card-themed notebooks, too!”

As they looked over the display of notebooks, Akira’s eyes immediately found the notebooks with their insignias on them. They were pretty obvious, given that they were actually on them. The king cards had Denbe singing, dancing, and one of the cards even had him with his black jacket off, which was a bit daring for a 16-year-old. The queen cards had Akira in action as she sang, played the keyboard, and even danced a bit. The jack cards had Hakuto with his guitar or dancing, and his lenses were either tinted or clear. As for Ryosuke, his ace cards had him either holding drumsticks, dancing on the stage, or playing the drums.

  
There were, of course, more simple notebooks simply decorated with the letter on each of their cards. Akira took note of a notebook with a simple pink A on it, for Ryosuke.

Looking over at the Melody Rhythm notebooks, it seemed that there were three different styles: one with Hibiki on them, one with Kanade on them, and one with both of the twins on the notebooks. There were also some notebooks with the twins’ symbols on them.

“This is… rather much, don’t you think?” Hakuto suddenly inquired from right next to them. Denbe was with him as well, blushing in embarrassment at the Wild Card merchandise.

“Uhh… yikes…” Denbe shuddered as he looked over the notebooks. He chose to grab a simple sky-blue notebook with cute cats on it, and headed off to the checkout with the rest of his supplies.

“Hey, wait, Denbe, I’ll pay for-” Hakuto began, reaching out to him, when all of a sudden...

“OH, MY GOD!” a sudden shriek was heard.

“Oh… fuck.” Hakuto silently cursed.

“OVER HERE!” the same person yelled. Suddenly, more people started heading over to the notebooks section. They knew they’d just been discovered.

“Start running!” Hibiki yelled. 

“No, I’ll handle this,” Kanade interjected.

"I'm coming with you," Hakuto added.

More people started heading over to the store.

As the people drew closer, Kanade and Hakuto put their hands up. 

The crowd started getting louder.

“Alright, everyone, we appreciate your enthusiasm at seeing us, but we’d really like it if you didn’t swarm us like this." Hakuto started.

"We’re humans too, and we deserve the same amount of personal space as you give yourselves. Do you understand?” Kanade loudly yelled over the group.

The people went silent.

“Well?” Kanade repeated herself. “Do you understand?” She emphasized each word of her question, which prompted the crowd to start quietly chattering.

After a minute of unintelligible discussion, a lot of people started responding.

“Okay! Sorry for the issue!”

“No problem!”

“We understand. Sorry about that!”

The group started to back off to admire them from afar.

“Phew…” Kanade sighed. 

"What a relief," Hakuto groaned.

“That had to be a lot to handle,” Hibiki groaned. “Thanks, sis.”

“No problem! I thought I’d get attacked, or something like that!” Kanade replied.

“Same here,” Denbe agreed. “Once again, thank you so much, Kanade.”

“It was no big deal,” Kanade giggled.

The entire group sighed in relief as they headed to the checkout to pay for their items. Much to Denbe’s own glee, the rest of the group decided against getting notebooks with their band on them, and had all the supplies they’d need for when school started.

Ryosuke had notebooks with cherry blossom designs and the blue ace-of-spades binder Hakuto showed Akira earlier, as well as a few randomly selected supplies he thought looked nice. Akira grabbed different-colored notebooks, plus a rainbow binder and quite a few multi-colored supplies. Denbe had cute cats on a lot of his school supplies. Hibiki’s supplies were all light shades of blue, green, pink, yellow, and purple. Kanade’s supplies were all pink.

And oddly enough, Hakuto’s supplies were all white, except for the pens, highlighters, and the sticky notes.

  
Everyone paid for their respective supplies with their own money and headed out, the plastic bags noisily shuffling in their hands.

They headed to the elevator, not wanting to run into any more fans at the moment. Luckily, no one was in the elevator. Hibiki made sure of it, before pressing the button for the second floor.

The doors closed, and everyone sighed in relief.

  
  
  


The elevator was a moment of silence in their noisy life, where everyone could actually breathe.

In the elevator, everyone was able to think for once, instead of worrying about their public image and what they did in life, and maintaining self-control.

Hakuto collapsed on the floor of the elevator as it started going down, exhausted from the encounter from earlier. 

“God, that left me tired…” he groaned. Denbe followed shortly after, sitting on the floor, massaging his right leg.

“My legs hurt from standing too long,” he complained.

“Well, you’re lucky that we’re going to the food court now, because we gotta eat!” Ryosuke interrupted.

Both of the boys on the floor sighed with relief, as the elevator arrived at the second floor. Denbe and Hakuto got up, gathered their purchases, and everyone headed to the food court.

  
  
  


“Okay, I was craving for some tendon, and this hits the spot.” Hibiki commented, holding her tempura rice bowl with one hand and some chopsticks in the other.

“I just wanted some tonkatsu,” Hakuto added, placing a piece of crispy pork cutlet with rice and lettuce into his mouth.

“Well, I wanted some tempura with rice on the side, instead of being in a bowl and soggy with dipping sauce,” Kanade responded.

The table was silent for a bit. No one had anything to say.

Then it was broken when Denbe finally said, “I’m excited to be seeing you guys at Hope’s Peak!”

“Me too!” Kanade agreed. “I wonder what people are going to say when they see two bands at once in Hope’s Peak?”

“Well, what was it like when you came into Hope’s Peak, first of all?” Akira asked.

  
“People just could not stop coming to us and yelling in our faces about how they were fans. I mean, I know we’re celebrities, but could you understand the concept of personal space?” Hibiki sighed.

“Celebrities never really get the chance to have personal space without bodyguards to make sure of it, but only Ultimates are allowed inside of the main building of Hope’s Peak, so that’s a bummer,” Hakuto reminded the group.

“Well, there won’t be that many people in Hope’s Peak, so I think it’s alright!” Ryosuke replied.

“But still, don’t you think they’d probably go wild about there being two bands at once in Hope’s Peak?” Denbe wondered.

“Well, you’re not wrong about that. Not to mention that there’s going to be more people than usual this year.” Hibiki responded.

“Still, it does mean we could throw a bomb-ass concert!” Akira shouted, a bit too loudly.

“Alright, I think that’s enough talking,” Hakuto told everyone, and they all went back to eating.

Until someone called, “Hibiki?”

“Huh? Is that…” Hibiki suddenly realized, noticing the black, long-haired individual near her, with the beige coat and hat.

“Oi, Nikei!” Kanade suddenly called out to him, waving him over.

“Kanade! Hibiki! How are you two?” he asked, giving the two of them a hug. “I see you’re eating with Wild Card!”

“Yep! They invited us over!” Hakuto replied.

“Ah! Hakuto, what’s it like being the leader of Wild Card?” Nikei suddenly asked.

“You don’t need to constantly interview all the celebrities you run into!” Hibiki interrupted.

“Oh, sorry…” Nikei chuckled nervously.

All of a sudden, ominous red lights flashed from somewhere behind him. Then a loud voice started speaking.

“You mortals have no power compared to me. I have the ability to bend the world to my will. Fear and respect me, for I will be the end of humanity as we know it!”

“One second,” Nikei paused, turning around to yank someone over to the table by their arm, making them wince in pain, noticeable by the fact that the mask was wincing itself.

This person looked odd. They had blonde hair, a purple cape and hat, a white button-down shirt, a yellow necktie, black pants, black shoes, and a white mask, which seemed to be animated. It showed emotion through its red eyes and mouth, and under its right eye was an upside-down question mark.

“Mikado, I thought I already told you not to scare people like that except on Halloween!” Nikei told the masked person off.

“Oh, sorry… I just wanted to be funny,” he apologized, chuckling.

“No worries!” Akira replied. “Who are you?”

The masked person took their mask off, revealing light brown eyes and a bright smile on their pale face.

“Sorry about that. The name’s Mikado Sannoji! Pleasure to meet you all!” he waved. “We were just hanging out at the mall. We’ll be off now, so see you later!” 

“See you guys, bye!” Nikei yelled, as the two of them walked out of the food court.

“That was interesting,” Hakuto thought aloud as he got up to return his tray and plate.

“Hakuto, there’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Denbe suddenly spoke.

“Hm?”

“What’s with all the plain white supplies?”

“Oh, I have a plan…” Hakuto responded, a Cheshire grin on his face.

While Hakuto was the guitarist and leader of the band, he did arts-and-crafts as a hobby, whenever he wasn’t busy. The projects he created were wild, and some weren’t as successful as he would hope for. However, the processes of making them were always fun.

But in all the time he’d been doing his projects, he’d never once thought of decorating his school supplies, which was really foolish of him. 

And he was going to make sure to do that now.

The moment he got back to his group’s apartment, he set to work on touching up his school supplies. A paintbrush was set over his right ear, he had a white smock on, and a blue headband kept his white hair away from his face. Paint, dye, markers, scissors, and most of his school supplies were set on his desk.

“Alright, let’s get to work!” he shouted to no one in particular, as he started decorating his school supplies.

Time passed by as his hands kept moving, drawing, painting, decorating his school supplies with an immense attention to detail. Red, blue, strokes of green, pink and yellow flew across his desk until it all amalgamated into a grey blur in the back of his mind. None of his fellow members thought to disturb him.

The radio boomed with popular pop songs as he went on, until the last item was decorated and set out to dry.

Hakuto wiped a sweat from his brow as he looked over his final masterpiece.

“This is perfect,” he thought, as he got up from the table to eat dinner with the other members. Unlike what their manager thought, everyone was capable of cooking really good meals. They definitely weren’t restaurant quality, but they were good. It was Denbe’s turn to cook tonight, and he had made some delicious gyudon.

With the main preparations for school out of the way, all they needed to do was get the opening ceremony concert organized, and the real fun would be set to start at Hope’s Peak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is appreciated!
> 
> And in case you didn't realize:
> 
> singing sis: Hibiki  
> strumming sis: Kanade  
> 21: Hakuto  
> king of the castle: Denbe  
> fuck I dropped my crown: Akira  
> Ace Ventura: Ryosuke


	2. 16-Member Question Panel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The SDRA2 group joins the fray, with mentions of canon Danganronpa characters!
> 
> In which Ryosuke has a stunningly accurate sexuality radar, Nikei has a writing panic, Iroha doesn't give any fucks at all, and Mikado temporarily becomes the Ultimate Detective, among other things.

After yesterday, Akira had a few questions. She wanted to know what she was getting into when she attended Hope’s Peak.

And who better to text than Hibiki and Kanade, who had already spent a year there?

She whipped out her phone and sent a text.

* * *

**Music HQ**

_Wednesday, March 25th, 2020_

_10:32 AM_

**fuck I dropped my crown:** @strumming sis @singing sis

**singing sis:**?

**strumming sis:** what is it

**fuck I dropped my crown:** What is Hope’s Peak like

**singing sis:** Oh, you have no idea. I don’t think we could even explain how-

  
  
  


All of a sudden, an idea came to Hibiki.

“Kanade! I just had an idea!” she yelled over to her sister, who was downstairs.

“I had the same thought! Should we do it?” she asked back.

“Uh, duh! Let’s do it!” Hibiki responded.

* * *

**Music HQ**

_10:33 AM_

**fuck I dropped my crown:** Hibiki you okay there?

**singing sis:** Sorry, got interrupted for a second. Anyway, I don’t think we could explain how complex and complicated life at Hope’s Peak is.

**fuck I dropped my crown:** Oh I see

**Ace Ventura:** What’s going on here?

**strumming sis:** but while we can’t explain it, maybe our classmates can!

**fuck I dropped my crown:** Wait

**Ace Ventura:** Are you… personally inviting us to your classmates’ group chat?

**singing sis:** You bet! It might be weird, seeing as you’ll be first-years, but I think it’s fine.

**Ace Ventura:** Alright, if you’re sure.

**king of the castle:** I’m getting notifications what is going on

**21:** just been lurking, we’re getting invited to Hibiki and Kanade’s group chat for their class

**king of the castle:** really?

**strumming sis:** yep! one second

**singing sis:** Try to keep your identities a secret for as long as possible! I want the others to figure it out for themselves!

**21:** oh no problem

* * *

**Ultimate Disasters**

_Wednesday, March 25th, 2020_

_10:36 AM_

**ice cream & tea: ** @hibiscus  How did you end up on the news with your little sister and the members of Wild Card?

**ice cream & tea: **Also, why did Hakuto from _Wild Card_ and Kanade yell at a group of about 80 people about personal space?

**ice cream & tea:** The hashtag  #idolsarepeopletoo  is trending, what did you do?

**_hibiscus_** _has added_ ** _fuck I dropped my crown_** _,_ ** _21_** _,_ ** _king of the castle_** _, and_ ** _Ace Ventura_** _to the chat_

**cuteism:** what the fuck just-

**21:** hello!

**The Wizard of Odd:** Excuse me, but who did you just add to the chat?

**hibiscus:** Oh, they’re incoming first-years!

**hibiscus:** They just wanted to know what life was like at Hope’s Peak!

**somebody call 911:** I HEARD NEW PEOPLE BEING ADDED

**That’s My Cue!:** SAME HERE I CAME RUNNING

**analytical mind:** who are these people

**picky with guitars:** scroll up

**analytical mind:** oh

**analytical mind:** i’ll get the others in quickly

**somebody call 911:** I WILL AS WELL

**The Wizard of Odd:** I suppose I will do the same too.

**Broke & Broker:** who the fuck woke me up because I’m going to kill your ass

**Broke & Broker:** OH GREAT NEW PEOPLE I CAN SCARE OFF

**cuteism:** SYOBAI NO D:

**ice cream & tea: **For once, they actually WANT to hear your input, Syobai.

**analytical mind:** so don’t be fucking rude

**The Wizard of Odd:** Oh, dear, for her to even curse means she’s really upset.

**analytical mind:** this is the fourth time we’ve had people come to the group chat only for hashimoto to scare them off

**Broke & Broker:** what can I say I just hate children in general

**Lights, Camera, Action!:** YOU SCARED OFF THE THIRD-YEARS WHEN WE FIRST CAME HERE AND THEY WEREN'T CHILDREN

**Lights, Camera, Action!:** HOW THE HELL DO YOU EVEN DO THAT

**Broke & Broker: **dunno I just… hate everything in general

**21:** sometimes life's a fucking bitch

**21:** like where are my endorphins? i completed the action, where are my rewards? are you on airplane mode or something?

**21:** time to give the game of life one star

**Broke & Broker: **oh

**Broke & Broker: **guess these guys aren’t too bad then

**KnockOut:** alright if Syobai can back off of the newcomers there’s something we’re doing right here

**starry-eyed simp:** I sense one of these people is a girl.

**Ace Ventura:** It’s me.

**starry-eyed simp:** It is not

**starry-eyed simp:** @fuck I dropped my crown  It is you.

**king of the castle:** WHAT THE FUCK

**rainboy:** don’t question it

**fancyshots:** oh, new people! nice to meet you!

**KnockOut:** do we introduce ourselves

**hibiscus:** Not yet! We’re gonna wait for everyone to come first!

**hibiscus:** And knowing them, they’ll definitely rush in as soon as they can!

**picky with guitars:** just wait a bit

**Silver-Haired Cryptic:** aw

**lordluck:** that’s unlucky, which is weird considering me

**fuck I dropped my crown:** no kidding

**hibiscus:** Luckily for you, you were the last one, which means we can start on introductions!  
  


 **lordluck:** YAY :DDDDD

**hibiscus:** You can start off the introductions, if you want!  
  


 **lordluck:** SURE

**lordluck:** Yuki Maeda, Ultimate Lucky Student! :) looking for both guys and girls

**Ace Ventura:** Oh, you’re bisexual!

**21:** nice

**fuck I dropped my crown:** Nice ultimate

**lordluck:** thanks

**lordluck:** it’s not as great as the others since it wasn’t attained through hard work, but it’s still good nevertheless

**Silver-Haired Cryptic:** It's still a really great talent, Yuki!

**Silver-Haired Cryptic:** I’ll go next, I guess. Sora Taira, Ultimate Potential.

**Ace Ventura:** Potential?

**Silver-Haired Cryptic:** yep potential

**Silver-Haired Cryptic:** it's a talent similar to Yuki's, in the sense that it's not something that can be demonstrated as physically as the other ultimate talents are

**Silver-Haired Cryptic:** as the Ultimate Potential I have the ability to instill a sense of determination into my classmates that allows them to do their best

**Ace Ventura:** That’s amazing!

**Silver-Haired Cryptic:** but when that potential doesn't come in on time it kinda sucks

**Silver-Haired** **Cryptic:** for example we could've won a game against class 86 but that potential doesn't come in when it should, so we lose

**Silver-Haired Cryptic:** it just comes and goes like Yuki's luck

**21:** oh F

**Ace Ventura:** One more question, are you lesbian?

**Silver-Haired Cryptic:** oh, yes I am, why?

**Broke & Broker: **alright I’m going next because why the fuck not

**Broke & Broker: **Syobai Hashimoto ultimate broker, and before you say it, I’m straight

**king of the castle:** ah alright

**king of the castle:** that’s also pretty cool

**king of the castle:** but where’s your lab

**Broke & Broker:** oh I studied in the banker lab because I had some kind of talent related to money

**king of the castle:** that’s nice

**Broke & Broker: **thanks I guess

**Lights, Camera, Action!:** me next

**Lights, Camera, Action!:** if you couldn’t already tell from my name, I’m Emma Magorobi, the Ult. Actress!

**fuck I dropped my crown:** OH

**fuck I dropped my crown:** I LOVE YOUR MOVIESEFWGREBHTGRW$R$FGR YASS QUEEN

**Ace Ventura:** You’re lesbian, I think.

**fuck I dropped my crown:** she’s been out of the closet for a long damn while now and YOU WOULD HAVE KNOWN IF YOU’D ONLY WATCH HER MOVIES AND KEEP UP WITH HER

**Ace Ventura:** Oh.

**21:** oh fuck

**21:** she’s a big fan so sorry about that

**Lights, Camera, Action!:** no worries! but I would like you to try to see past just me as an actress. just because I fake personalities for movies doesn't mean I don't have a genuine personality

**starry-eyed** **simp:** That is true!

**starry-eyed simp:** I will go now

**starry-eyed simp:** Yuri Kagarin, ultimate spaceman! I am very pleased to be in the presence of new visitors, especially since one of them is a girl.

**Broke & Broker: **you should really just be the ultimate simp

**Broke & Broker: **I had no idea who was a girl until you literally found them

**Broke & Broker: **and you’re literally so fucking hetero yuri

**Broke & Broker:** which is ironic considering your name

**starry-eyed simp:** I am never wrong with my deductions, and that is also true, for I am straight.

**starry-eyed simp:** Also, I do wish I hadn’t been named Yuri. Don’t take this the wrong way, I still support the LGBTQ+ community, but of course my name is ironic as I am most definitely straight.

**rainboy:** I’ll go!

**Ace Ventura:** I can see why your name is rainboy now.

**rainboy:**??

**Ace Ventura:** Gay, change my mind.

**rainboy:** HOLY SHIT I DIDN’T EVEN SAY MY NAME AND ULTIMATE

**rainboy:** I’M TERUYA OOTORI ULTIMATE MERCHANT AND I’D LIKE TO KNOW HOW YOU KNOW THAT

**21:** he has an impeccable sexuality radar

**21:** do not test him

**rainboy:** DULY NOTED HOLY FUCK

**Lights, Camera, Action!:** WAIT YOU HAVE A SEXUALITY RADAR

**Ace Ventura:** Yep!

**starry-eyed simp:** that must be a very good talent to have so you don’t offend the women that are looking for the same sex

**KnockOut:** can I go next

**Ace Ventura:** And... you’re bisexual.

**KnockOut:** GODDAMN

**KnockOut:** HAJIME MAKUNOUCHI ULTIMATE BOXER

**KnockOut:** AND IS THIS GUY THE ULTIMATE MATCHMAKER OR SOMETHING

**king of the castle:** actually he’s not but HOLY SHIT YOU NEED TO BE

**Ace Ventura:** Well, my name is based off of a detective. I guess that ties into it as well.

**The Wizard of Odd:** I shall go next!

**The Wizard of Odd:** I am the magical Mikado Sannoji, the Ultimate Wizard! My magic has taken years to perfect, and I have mastered the aspects of elemental magic! They are not simple tricks performed using smoke and mirrors!

**Ace Ventura:** Aaaaaaaaand you’re also gay.

**The Wizard of Odd:** I suggest you do not mess with me, for I am-

**The Wizard of Odd:** Drat! I have managed to keep this a secret for a long while now!

**KnockOut:** until last year, at least

**The Wizard of Odd:** Yes, that is true. I felt comfortable revealing that only with you people.

**Ace Ventura:** That’s nice. Glad they’re so-

**Ace Ventura:** Wait. 

**Ace Ventura:** Shit. 

**Ace Ventura:** Only with them?

**The Wizard of Odd:** Yes, I have actually been bullied for this in the past, unfortunately.

**The Wizard of Odd:** I am not proud about how I’ve dealt with it. I would misuse my magic sometimes for revenge.

**The Wizard of Odd:** But the past is in the past, and people here are absolutely more accepting. So I think life is better now.

**21:** that fucking sucks though, I’m sorry about that

**The Wizard of Odd:** It is fine.

**The Wizard of Odd:** My only wish right now would be to find someone who loves me for who I am, if I’m being honest here.

**cuteism:** aw mikado that’s so cute to think about, hope you find the right person eventually!

**cuteism:** with that out of the way, this is Iroha Nijiue!

**21:** ooh she rhymed, and Ryosuke says you’re straight

**cuteism:** oh i am! also i’m the ultimate painter

**21:** with an ultimate like that, your nickname is likely based on Picasso’s era of cubism

**cuteism:** you got it! :D

**Ace Ventura:** I figured that as well.

**fuck I dropped my crown:** and yet you couldn’t figure out where you left your cap when you left it in the dumbest of places

**Ace Ventura:** CAN WE NOT TALK ABOUT THAT ANYMORE?!

**That’s My Cue!:** Hey! Setsuka Chiebukuro here! I’m the ultimate billiards player!

**king of the castle:** never been a billiards person but I can still respect that

**Ace Ventura:** I already know that you’re lesbian, you’re dating Hibiki.

**That’s My Cue!:** WAIT HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT

**Ace Ventura:** Hibiki came out last year and admitted she was dating you. Did you forget?

**That’s My Cue!:** oh

**hibiscus:** :( setsuuuuuu

**picky with guitars:** SHE WENT LOWERCASE

**That's My Cue!:** Sorry Hibiki

**somebody call 911:** THIS IS SO SAD. YOU’RE ALL SO WEAK WHEN INTRODUCING YOURSELVES! SAY IT WITH PRIDE! 

**somebody call 911:** I’M SHINJI KASAI, THE ULTIMATE FIREFIGHTER! IT’S GREAT TO MEET YOU, DO YOU HEAR ME?

**Ace Ventura:** All I'm hearing is a whole lot of gay.

**somebody call 911:** WHAT THE FUCK?! I THOUGHT I WAS GIVING OFF HETERO VIBES!

**KnockOut:** GRAEREFRGSRFGIHNWORENFGRIOSNEAFRAEGBRGAERFJAEOGNOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

**21:** JESUS CHRIST CALM DOWN

**21:** dude look I know you’ve got a good radar but some people might wanna stay in the closet for all we know

**analytical mind:** he is right, though we really are very honest with each other, especially with sexuality

**analytical mind:** so I believe it is all right

**somebody call 911:** YEAH, IT TOTALLY IS! HE’S RIGHT ABOUT THAT, TOO, SO GOOD JOB ON HIM!

**fancyshots:** JESUS THAT SEXUALITY RADAR IS TOP-NOTCH

**Ace Ventura:** It is, and you’re pansexual.

**fancyshots:** wefrgtbntgearheatgrabnstheatwrghtsha4rghns H O W

**21:** dude goddamn

**21:** wait you’re pansexual

**fancyshots:** that is true

**fancyshots:** Yoruko Kabuya, ultimate hostess!

**king of the castle:** AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWFOENGJENGOWBREIONFOGRWIOENAOENO

**fuck I dropped my crown:** are you alright

**king of the castle:** YEP YEP NO ISSUES

**fancyshots:** that’s weird

**fancyshots:** oh well

**ice cream & tea:** I’ll go!

**ice cream & tea: **Ultimate Journalist, Nikei Yomiuri!

**The Wizard of Odd:** I can see you raising your pen to point at something despite me being in my dorm, all the way on the first floor.

**Ace Ventura:** And I can see you being a disaster bisexual, just as you were yesterday.

**The Wizard of Odd:** HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

**ice cream & tea: **MIKADO

**ice cream & tea: **YOU'RE SO MEAN

* * *

** Void Co-Leaders Chat (A.K.A. Wizard + Journalist Chat) **

_Wednesday, March 25th, 2020_

_10:41 AM_

**fieryleade** **r:** Wait, sorry about that, Nikei.

**fieryleader:** I shouldn't have teased you like that, even if it was a joke.

**icyleader:** No worries, it’s fine.

**icyleader:** I mean, we’re best friends, not much of an issue there.

**fieryleader:** Sorry. I just... I don't want to accidentally make you upset. You've gone through a lot of shit already.

**icyleader:** It's fine. I promise.

**fieryleader:** Alright, as long as you're sure.

**icyleader** : HANG ON, GOING BACK TO THE CHAT.

* * *

**ice cream & tea:** VENTURA DUDE, HOW DO YOU KNOW ME FROM YESTERDAY?!

**analytical mind:** that leaves me now

**analytical mind:** Kokoro Mitsume, ultimate psychologist and before you say anything else, I’m bisexual

**ice cream & tea:** HEY!

**fuck I dropped my crown:** Oh I see

**fuck I dropped my crown:** that explains the calm personality, I kinda picture psychologists to be calm people

**fuck I dropped my crown:** really I kinda assume people related in science are calm and whatnot

**ice cream & tea: **HELLO???

**fuck I dropped my crown:** though there was a bit of cursing earlier

**analytical mind:** ah, sorry

**ice cream & tea:** I give up.

**analytical mind:** but that isn't necessarily true, your assumption

**analytical mind:** I suggest you meet Miu Iruma, she's a wild person who's still technically in the scientific field

**ice cream & tea:** aren't inventors different from scientists?

**analytical mind:** oh, wait, you're right

**analtyical mind:** whoops

**analytical mind:** what about you? you four seem to be harboring a secret of sorts.

**Ace Ventura:** Well, you’re not wrong.

**ice cream & tea: **SPILL. I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO ASK MR. VENTURA ABOUT HOW HE KNOWS ME.

**The Wizard of Odd:** You are forgetting the twins.

**ice cream & tea: **The twins invited them here, remember?

**The Wizard of Odd:** Ah, that’s correct!

**The Wizard of Odd:** Wait.

**The Wizard of Odd:** The twins invited you four here.

**21:** yep

**The Wizard of Odd:** I have a hunch.

**ice cream & tea: **What is it?

**The Wizard of Odd:** Alright, prepare for a long spout of text!

**The Wizard of Odd:** Given that the twins have invited these four new people here, we can be assured that they are people that the twins already know, because if not, they wouldn’t have ever gotten into the group chat. Thanks to Yuri’s simp skills, we know that only one of the four new people here is a girl. Combining that with the fact that their nicknames are related to gambling and royalty in some sort of way, and that Ace Ventura knows Nikei from yesterday, when the only place he went out was the mall along with me, where we met up with Hibiki and Kanade along with four other famous musicians that Nikei so happened to recognize...

**The Wizard of Odd:** Hibiki and Kanade Otonokoji…

**The Wizard of Odd:** You’ve invited the famous band known as Wild Card into our chat, have you not?

**The Wizard of Odd:** Furthermore, with the reason for inviting them here being that they wanted to ask questions about what Hope’s Peak is like due to them being incoming first-years, can I assume that Wild Card is going to be part of class 88?

**picky with guitars:** GUILTY

**Ace** **Ventura:** Detective Skills: 100

**ice cream & tea: **HOLY SHIT!

**ice cream & tea: **YOU GUYS ARE REALLY PLEASANT TO BE AROUND BUT I’M ALSO TERRIFIED OF SOME OF YOU.

**That’s My Cue!:** YOU’RE SERIOUS?!

**lordluck:** TODAY’S AN ESPECIALLY LUCKY DAY THEN

**The Wizard of Odd:** This will be a pleasant addition to Hope’s Peak. I am pleased to be your upperclassman!

**21:** thanks!

**fancyshots:** @king of the castle  I KNOW THAT’S YOU DENBE YOU STOLE ONE OF MY BORDEAUX RED WINES YOU LITTLE SHIT AND NOW I HAVE FREE REIGN TO KILL YOU SO GET READY BITCH

**king of the castle:** FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

**21:** YOU WHAT DENBE

**rainboy:** IF YOU WRITE A COLUMN ABOUT HOW DENBE STOLE YORUKO’S WINE I’M GOING TO PERSONALLY END YOU NIKEI

**rainboy:** THAT IS MY FAVORITE BAND YOU ARE TALKING TO RIGHT THERE

**ice cream & tea: **I CAN’T SPILL THE TEA OR GET THE SCOOP ON THAT?!

**cuteism:** n o

**rainboy:** oh god I heard him let out an audible noise that sounded like a mix of a sob, wail, and screech

**rainboy:** I'm on the second floor

**The Wizard of Odd:** ON MY WAY!

**The Wizard of Odd:** If Nikei does not satisfy his need for writing, he will have a writing panic. He HAS to write or he can’t get the idea out of his head and it plagues him until he can publish the column.

**fuck I dropped my crown:** Ouch

**The Wizard of Odd:** I suppose you four should introduce yourselves.

**ice cream & tea: **WAIT, CAN I AT LEAST WRITE A COLUMN ABOUT HOW WILD CARD IS COMING TO HOPE’S PEAK?!

**21:** sure, you’ve got our permission

**ice cream & tea: **YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!

**ice cream & tea: **I’D LIKE TO ASK FOR INTERVIEWS LATER AFTER YOU GUYS INTRODUCE YOURSELVES TOO! MAYBE WHEN WE START SCHOOL AGAIN, SO THAT CAN BE THE FIRST ISSUE OF THE YEAR!

**king of the castle:** well then go ahead no one’s stopping you

**king of the castle:** and now time to introduce ourselves

**king of the castle:** Hello, this is Denbe Shiba, also known as “King!” Ultimate Vocalist!

**fuck I dropped my crown:** Akira Hayashi, Queen of Wild Card, Ultimate Keyboardist.

**21:** Hakuto Shin, Jack of Wild Card, Ultimate Guitarist

**Ace Ventura:** And Ryosuke Murakami, Ultimate Drummer. You can already tell what my stage name is.

**cuteism:** you’ve got a hell of a sexuality radar Ryosuke

**Ace Ventura:** Thanks!

**Ace Ventura:** I still have some questions I want to ask, if that is okay.

**ice cream & tea: **Sure, go ahead!

**Ace Ventura:** What is lunch like? 

**Broke & Broker:** usually a culinary-related ultimate handles the cafeteria, as that is their talent lab

**Broke & Broker:** by that logic, they also serve lunch for all three classes

**Ace Ventura:** What happens if there are no culinary-related ultimates in the school? Who serves the lunch?

**Silver-Haired Cryptic:** oh, that’s a good one. usually, there IS a culinary-related ultimate in the school, but there have been exceptions. when my sister was a first-year at Hope’s Peak, there were no chefs, so she took the liberty of serving lunch despite being a first-year. she was respected for it.

**Silver-Haired Cryptic:** speaking of which, I'm excited to see her!

**lordluck:** personally I can't wait to see my older brother! :D

**21:** older brother?

**lordluck:** oh yeah, his name is Daichi! but people call him utsuro because he's got apathy

**lordluck:** he's also ult. lucky student and I have no idea how the luck runs in the family

**21:** whoa

**21:** hope this doesn't sound offensive, but who's got the most useless talent here

**rainboy:** ooh that's a hard one

**rainboy:** probably would have to go for... eh... anyone sports-related, so Mitsuhiro Higa from class 86

**hibiscus:** THAT BITCH!

**hibiscus:** MITCH'S SUCH A CREEP! I CAN'T EVEN COUNT HOW MANY TIMES HE TRIED TO COME ONTO ME LAST YEAR!

**picky with guitars:** I counted

**picky with guitars:** it was practically daily

**king of the castle:** WHAT THE FUCK

**The Wizard of Odd:** To further specify the amount of times Mitch was a pervert, it was exactly 279 times.

**cuteism:** everyone say it with me

**cuteism:** mitch the bitch

**broke & broker:** mitch the bitch

**lordluck:** mitch the bitch

**ice cream & tea:** MITCH THE BITCH!

**The Wizard of** Odd: Mitch the bitch!

**picky with guitars:** MITCH THE BITCH

**fancyshots:** MITCH THE BITCH

**analytical mind:** mitch the bitch

**hibiscus:** I’M GONNA GIVE THAT BITCH 279 KICKS TO HIS DICK SO HE CAN’T GET HORNY ANYMORE!

**cuteism:** target practice hehe :3

**rainboy:** DAMN HIBIKI AND IROHA CALM DOWN

**picky with guitars:** SIS NO

**picky with guitars:** YOUR REPUTATION AND IMAGE

**hibiscus:** Fuck.

**hibiscus:** Well, I guess I’ll just have to wait until our contract ends.

**picky with guitars:** how long was it again?

**hibiscus:** Six years. I figured we could last that long.

**picky with guitars:** I guess if we’re still together that long we could probably sign for another contract

**Lights, Camera, Action!:** WAIT KOKORO CURSED

**hibiscus:** She did?

**picky with** **guitars:** SHE CALLED MITCH A BITCH AWFEGSBHRSGTEAFGHTRGTEA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

**cuteism:** MOM WHAT THE FUCK

**analytical mind:** it's not really bad if it's true, is it?

**cuteism:** ...

**21:** let's get this train back on the tracks before it crashes

**21:** what are classes like?

**lordluck:** they’re chill mostly

**lordluck:** we’re allowed to skip them as long as we’re still training our talent, though we do have mandatory classes every other Friday (it's not THAT bad, though, trust me on that.)

**21:** NICE

**The Wizard of Odd:** I have made it to Nikei’s dorm on the third floor, dorm 312.

**The Wizard of Odd:** He’s diligently writing, but he’s also going on an angry rant about how coronavirus makes it impossible for him to hand out newspapers and that he’s glad he can at least publish stories on the online newspaper app of our e-Handbooks.

**king of the castle:** wait you guys can live in the dorms after school ends?

**21:** where do you think they were living

**21:** did you think they all just moved in together

**21:** ya dingus

**king of the castle:** hello 911 I'd like to report a murder

_**Silver-Haired Cryptic** has added **bluejustice** to the chat_

**lordluck:** SORA NO

**cuteism:** (╬⁽⁽ ⁰ ⁾⁾ Д ⁽⁽ ⁰ ⁾⁾)

**broke &** **broker:** SHIT

**cuteism:** WE'RE DONE FOR SORA!!!! WE'RE GONNA DIE WE'RE GONNA DIE WE'RE GONNA DIE WE'RE GONNA DIE WE'RE GONNA DIE WE'RE GONNNA AENOGINWIEJAFOIGBRGNOAEFV

**bluejustice:** I WAS ADDED BECAUSE SOMEONE WANTED TO REPORT A MURDER, WHAT'S GOING ON?!

**king of the castle:** yes my friend has gone and insulted my intelligence to the point where my feelings have been murdered

**king of the castle:** my heart hurts can you call an ambulance

**bluejustice:** ...

**bluejustice:** Why?

**bluejustice:** Really, Sora?

**Silver-Haired** **Cryptic:** hey I thought it was funny

**bluejustice:** I mean, I laughed a little, but you have to keep in mind I have a serious job to do. I don't appreciate having my time wasted like this. Please don't contact me unless it is serious... thank you.

**Silver-Haired Cryptic:** sorry...

**bluejustice:** No worries. Farewell!

_**bluejustice**_ _has left the chat_

**cuteism:** HE WASN'T ANGRY (‐＾▽＾‐)

**rainboy:** that's a relief. now back to Denbe's question

**rainboy:** we can, as long as we haven’t graduated

**rainboy:** but some people choose to head back home

**hibiscus:** Like me and Kanade! We live in the dorms of I.M. Entertainment on the seventh floor, along with Denbe, Hakuto, Akira, and Ryosuke when we’re not at Hope’s Peak!

**king of the castle:** can confirm

**king of the castle:** also what are e-Handbooks?

**rainboy:** oh right you guys didn’t get them yet

**rainboy:** basically they’re like… IDs, but if they were cellphones

**rainboy:** you can use them for a lot of things

**rainboy:** it’s got your schedule, a grading and attendance app, offers assistance in terms of academics, has a chatroom so you can communicate with your classmates outside of classes (but it has a filter so beware), and has a help button so if you ever get into an accident you just need to press the button and it sends out your location

**rainboy:** it’s also REALLY durable and doesn’t crack easily

**rainboy:** it’s waterproof as well

**rainboy:** and Nikei asked Yamato Kisaragi, the current ultimate inventor, to create an online newspaper app so that people could keep up with what was going on in and outside of school, with special permission from Mr. Kirigiri, of course

**ice cream & tea:** He's pretty chill, I will admit. He was more than happy to fulfill my request!

**ice cream & tea:** He asked me how Mikado and I were doing. Said something about how we were getting pretty close now.

**ice cream & tea:** I mean, we are best friends, so he's not wrong.

**The Wizard of** **Odd:** Hm.

**Ace Ventura:** …

**Ace Ventura:** No comment.

**21:** huh

**The Wizard of Odd:** One second.

* * *

_Private message with_ **_Mikado Sannoji_ ** _and_ **_Ryosuke Murakami_ **

_Wednesday, March 25th, 2020_

_10:48 AM_

**Mikado:** I sensed you had a realization.

**Ryosuke:** That would be correct.

**Mikado:** Can you not… expose me, for the time being? I’d like to do things my own way, and I’d appreciate it if you could understand.

**Ryosuke:** No worries! Your secret’s safe with me!

* * *

**Ultimate Disasters**

_10:49 AM_

**rainboy:** Mikado, are you alright

**The Wizard of Odd:** Yes, I am. I suddenly had the idea to tell our incoming first-years about the school government.

**ice cream & tea: **YES!

**cuteism:** can i tell them about that? :)

**ice cream & tea: ** Go ahead!

**cuteism:** yay! :D

**cuteism:** so the government is set up like this: we vote for someone to be the representative of our class

**cuteism:** and out of those representatives one is selected to be the leader of the school government that year and is allowed to select four other people from their respective class as their assistants, and they get to name their group!

**cuteism:** and that’s how nikei became the school leader and established a group called void

**fuck I dropped my crown:** Void?

**The Wizard of Odd:** Thank Iroha for it. Here’s the story.

**cuteism:** NO ల(｀°Δ°)

**The Wizard of Odd:** With all due respect, Akira asked, so I must answer.

**cuteism:** ｡゜(｀Д´)゜｡

**The Wizard of Odd:** Quick thing to remember: The headmaster does not understand slang except for inappropriate terms relating to genitalia.

**The Wizard of Odd:** So he gathered all of us up one day to ask us what we wanted to name ourselves.

**The Wizard of Odd:** And in a momentary stroke of genius, Iroha has the audacity to say

**The Wizard of Odd:** “Pussy Destroyers”

**cuteism:** I DO NOT LIKE BEING EXPOSED LIKE THIS THANK YOU

**The Wizard of Odd:** Followed by saying, “VOID VOID VOID VOID VOID VOID VOID" a couple dozen times.

**The Wizard of Odd:** Now, seeing as Iroha’s original comment was too inappropriate for the school, he immediately took what she said next, "Void," and made it our official group name. No repeats, seeing as a name like "Void Void" sounded stupid.

**The Wizard of Odd:** This is how we became the school government group known as Void. While Iroha may have caused all of us to start off on the wrong foot, we all definitely grew closer that year.

**The Wizard of Odd:** So thank you, Iroha, for that momentary stroke of genius.

**cuteism:** you’re welcome hehe（⌒▽⌒ゞ

**The Wizard of Odd:** Nikei is currently dying.

**ice cream & tea: **I’M SORRY I JUST-

**ice cream & tea: ** I WAS NOT HERE WHEN IROHA SAID THAT AND I JUST CAN’T STOP LAUGHING!

**ice cream & tea: **YOU SAID “PUSSY DESTROYERS” STRAIGHT TO THE HEADMASTER’S FACE?

**cuteism:** i do not fear god >:3

**lordluck:** god = Mr. Kirigiri

**lordluck:** nope absolutely not

**fuck I dropped my crown:** same, from what Hibiki and Kanade have said about her he’s a bitch

**king of the castle:** we do not stan

**hibiscus:** WE DO NOT STAN

**lordluck:** that’s how this works

**analytical mind:** I have studied this concept

**analytical mind:** basically, the students or a majority of them all nominate a certain person to emulate because they are either an extraordinary person or a person they look up to and would like to become

**analytical mind:** and they are declared God

**analytical mind:** the other thing the students do is nominate a mom and dad of the class

**analytical mind:** and the traits to qualify for these are to be the most mature of the group

**The Wizard of Odd:** Then I suppose we could nominate Nikei as our dad!

**ice cream & tea: **Huh? Why?

**The Wizard of Odd:** You’re a really trustworthy person, and although your talent focuses on exposing and spilling secrets, you’re also really good at keeping them. 

**The Wizard of Odd:** And I can say without a doubt that Kokoro is the mom of the group. She’s good at therapy sessions, and just good with people in general thanks to her talent.

**The Wizard of Odd:** But if she’s held up with something, the students usually go for you.

**The Wizard of Odd:** So I think it’d make sense for you to be the dad.

**The Wizard of Odd:** Do you agree?

**The Wizard of Odd:** Nikei?

**The Wizard of Odd:** Oh, he’s crying right now, but he’s saying he agrees. 

**lordluck:** That’s great!

**Silver-Haired Cryptic:** yoruko’s the wine aunt

**fancyshots:** S O R A I D O N O T -

**fancyshots:** fine, if you wanna play like that

**fancyshots:** you’re the hipster aunt with the crystal ball due to being cryptic as fuck

**Silver-Haired Cryptic:** ow oof oof ouch ow my feelings

**fancyshots:** lol

**hibiscus:** Yuri and Shinji are the uncles that are always chasing the girls and Mikado and Teruya are the cool uncles.

**starry-eyed simp:** I WILL TAKE SUCH A COMMENT FROM A GIRL IN STRIDE!

**somebody call 911:** AM I SERIOUSLY THAT BAD WITH WOMEN?!

**starry-eyed simp:** To make things simple... yes.

**The Wizard of Odd:** Such sentiment as this pleases me. Thank you, Hibiki.

**rainboy:** do you always speak in such an intelligent way?

**The Wizard of Odd:** I don’t. But people tend to associate wizards with being very regal and very linguistic, so I like to do that when demonstrating my talent.

**The Wizard of Odd:** In reality, I use slang a lot and could probably curse someone out if I wanted to, and not in the wizard way, like… 

**The Wizard of Odd:** “How dare you, foolish mortal! I will bring dishonor on your family and your firstborn child!”

**The Wizard of Odd:**...or some crap like that, anyway.

**fuck I dropped my crown:** I see! Thank you for explaining a lot about Hope’s Peak to us!

**somebody call 911:** ANYTIME!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Usernames:
> 
> king of the castle: Denbe  
> 21: Hakuto  
> fuck I dropped my crown: Akira  
> Ace Ventura: Ryosuke  
> hibiscus: Hibiki  
> picky with guitars: Kanade  
> Silver-Haired Cryptic: Sora  
> lordluck: Yuki  
> fancyshots: Yoruko  
> cuteism: Iroha  
> The Wizard of Odd: Mikado  
> ice cream & tea: Nikei  
> KnockOut: Hajime  
> Lights, Camera, Action!: Emma  
> Broke & Broker: Syobai  
> That's My Cue!: Setsuka  
> analytical mind: Kokoro  
> starry-eyed simp: Yuri  
> somebody call 911: Shinji (no doubt Emma gave that to him, bonus points if you understand it)  
> rainboy: Teruya  
> bluejustice: Tsurugi
> 
> edit: Sora's talent, the Ultimate Potential and how it works, was taken from the fic "void of thought" by phanstarlight! It's an amazing piece, and I'd love it if you could read and support them as well! They just completed their work, and I have to say that the final chapter is amazing.


	3. Two Bands + Piano Girl = Lots of Music (And Also Crack)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaede Akamatsu enters the music gang! It may be temporarily, but that's fine.
> 
> Featuring shenanigans during band practice.

Now that most of the things for school were done, there was only one thing left to focus on. Headmaster Kirigiri had told Wild Card and Melody Rhythm that they were going to be playing at the opening ceremony, and the bands needed songs to play.

But first, they needed to be able to contact Kaede Akamatsu, who was also involved in the opening ceremony, so that they could get together for band practices.

Hibiki had Kaede’s phone number from last year when Kaede performed alongside her and Kanade. She decided to text her first.

* * *

_Private message with_ **_Kaede Akamatsu_ ** _and_ **_Hibiki Otonokoji_ **

_Friday, April 3rd, 2020_

_2:57 PM_

**Hibiki:** Kaede?

**Kaede:** Yeah?

**Hibiki:** You got the letter about us performing at the opening ceremony, right?

**Kaede:** I did, why?

**Hibiki:** Me, Kanade, and the members of Wild Card are all collaborating to find pieces we can perform at the concert. Denbe suggested adding you as well, so you’re not out of the loop. Sorry we forgot about you.

**Kaede:** No problem! You can add me now if you want!

**Hibiki:** I was about to. Get ready to say hi!

* * *

**Music HQ**

_Friday, April 3rd, 2020_

_2:57 PM_

**_Hibiki_ ** _has added_ **_Claire de Lunatic_ ** _to the chat_

**21:** who’s this

**singing sis:** Kaede Akamatsu, Ultimate Pianist! Denbe wanted me to invite her.

**21:** oh right she’s also performing

**21:** thanks Denbe

**king of the castle:** no problem

**fuck I dropped my crown:** Nice meeting you Kaede

**Claire de Lunatic:** Hello! I’m Kaede Akamatsu. I don’t know anyone besides Hibiki and Kanade, so could the Wild Card members please introduce themselves?

**king of the castle:** Denbe Shiba, Ultimate Vocalist.

**fuck I dropped my crown:** Akira Hayashi, Ultimate Keyboardist

**Claire de Lunatic:** You’re the keyboardist?!

**fuck I dropped my crown:** My sworn enemy

**Claire de Lunatic:** I vow to murder you the second I see you. Mark my words.

**Claire de Lunatic:** JUST KIDDING!

**fuck I dropped my crown:** SAME LOL

**fuck I dropped my crown:** But seriously it’s a pleasure to meet you

**Claire de Lunatic:** The pleasure is all mine.

**21:** Hakuto Shin, Ultimate Guitarist.

**Ace Ventura:** And of course, Ryosuke Murakami, Ultimate Drummer!

**Claire de Lunatic:** I see that your usernames are based on your stage names, so I’m not going to have any issue telling who’s who!

**Claire de Lunatic:** Except Hakuto, care to explain?

**21:** 21 is the alternative name for blackjack.

**Claire de Lunatic:** I see! Thank you!

**21:** No problem.

**strumming sis:** aw man are we in serious grammar text mode

**strumming sis:** That’s a bummer, I like it better when the group chat is on crack.

**strumming sis:** Not really, I'm just kidding.

**singing sis:** But with that out of the way, is it possible for us to all meet up today? The campus is open for practice if anyone wants to go.

**21:** We’re all available.

**Claire de Lunatic:** Same here.

**singing sis:** Can we meet up at Hope’s Peak by 4:00, then?

**21:** Not a problem, all of us are already dressed here!

**Claire de Lunatic:** I’m ready too!

**singing sis:** This is perfect, but we all live pretty far away from Hope’s Peak, so take the train to make it faster!

**Claire de Lunatic:** I live further away, so I might be a bit late. Apologies in advance if that happens.

**king of the castle:** No worries!

* * *

At that point, the four band members of Wild Card walked out of their apartment. They were dressed rather plainly for their practice.

Ryosuke was holding a white binder, which was full of songs that Wild Card had composed. On the front were the four cards to represent each of them: an ace, a queen, a king, and a jack.

Denbe was wearing a black hoodie with denim jeans and his usual black boots, Akira had a green sweater and white jeans with her green high-top sneakers, Hakuto was wearing his blue vest with a black t-shirt underneath, plus blue sweatpants and his black-and-blue sneakers, and Ryosuke had a black-and-white striped t-shirt and black shorts with his blue sneakers.

Soon after, Hibiki and Kanade walked out of their dorms. Both of them had orange hoodies and black sweatpants, as well as their usual white sneakers. Kanade was holding a similar binder, but pink, with the twins’ symbols on it.

“Are we all ready?” Hibiki asked the group. “Do we all have our sunglasses?” she added, holding up her pair.

“We do!” Denbe responded, and the six musicians put on their sunglasses and headed into the elevator once again. This time, Akira pressed the button for the lobby, and the elevator went down.

Once it stopped at the lobby, the six of them headed down to the train station again.

This time, the trip would be a challenge. Hope’s Peak was a half-hour away, and the six of them would have to stay incognito for the entire trip if they didn’t want to have fans harassing them. Furthermore, traffic was busy and there were more people walking around as rush hour came closer.

Their tactic was to spread out, enter the train through different doors, and stay in different areas. Hibiki and Denbe would enter the doors furthest to the left, Akira and Hakuto would enter the doors in the middle, and Kanade and Ryosuke would enter the doors furthest to the right.

This would help make sure no one would be recognized.

It worked. They stayed silent the entire trip, and made it to the train station near Hope’s Peak. It was a close call, though, as there were a few people that stared at them for a few seconds. Luckily, they were ignored.

And Kaede had managed to make it, as well, as she arrived on the next train shortly after.

The seven of them all headed to Hope’s Peak Academy, and walked inside. There weren’t many other people there, and of the people that were there, none of them were people anyone recognized.

Kanade, Hibiki, and Kaede escorted the four incoming first-years to the music lab, located on the second floor of the school. It had a blue door, with two connected white eighth notes on it.

They all walked in.

The music room had a lot of different instruments. In one corner of the room was a chair and a desk. On it was an Apple desktop with a mouse. Kaede promptly headed to it, sat down, and logged into her school account.

“Alright, everyone, what are we going to do for the opening ceremony performance?” she asked the group, as the laptop loaded.

“Hm. The first song we’re playing should be ‘See You Again’ by Charlie Puth,” Kaede recommended. They do tend to play English pop songs on the radio sometimes, so I think everyone’s heard of it, and the lyrics do make sense given the current living situation for many people. The message it brings would be perfect as one of our songs, and would bring a lot of hope. But we shouldn’t include the rap.”

“I agree, the rap wouldn’t be a good addition. We could also play one of our songs,” Akira suggested. 

Ryosuke was thumbing through the sheets of music, and suddenly stopped. “I feel like ‘Hearts out Front’ would be an uplifting song to perform, given that Denbe’s vocals really stand out there.” Ryosuke figured. “It should be the second song.”

“As for us,” Hibiki mentioned, “a nice happy song would be perfect to bring hope to the students! I think ‘It’s a New Day’ would be perfect as the final song.” 

“But who would sing for “See You Again?”

“I think both Hibiki and Denbe would work for this one, considering that they’re both Ultimate Vocalists. I have an idea on how the line distribution would work. Akira, Kanade, Hakuto, I’m so sorry, but the most we’re probably gonna have for that song are drums and the piano, so you three are going to have to be backup vocalists,” Kaede apologized.

“No issue. Sometimes, as they say, you gotta take one for the team,” Hakuto reminded her. 

“If that’s all, then perfect! We’ve got our three songs! Let’s start practicing. But first, we gotta set up!” Ryosuke told everyone, and they all got to work on setting up. Kaede printed the sheet music for Charlie Puth’s “See You Again” while the other six of them set up the piano, two guitars, a keyboard, the drumset, and seven microphone stands.

They got to practicing “See You Again” first, since the bands both knew their own song well enough.

It took a few tries, due to Kaede and Ryosuke being unfamiliar with the sheet music, but after the fourth attempt, they were able to play the song smoothly. Denbe and Hibiki performed the song, while Akira, Ryosuke, and Kanade sung backup.

But then there was a glaring problem.

Ryosuke was too loud with his drumming and was drowning out Kaede’s piano playing.

But when he tried to compensate for how loud he was, they both ended up being too quiet to hear.

“Oh, no,” Ryosuke groaned. “Now what? It’s not like we can amplify the piano, or anything…”

The moment he said that, everyone turned to look at Akira, including Ryosuke, who had realized his mistake halfway through his sentence.

When Akira noticed, she suddenly got embarrassed. “Wh-Wha? Y-You want me to do it?” she sputtered. “I d-don’t think I have the same magic that K-Kaede does on the keyboard, do I?”

“Well… you wouldn’t have gotten in as the Ultimate Keyboardist if you had the magic for the piano, right?”

“Y-You mean…”

“Well, yes, I do. I really do believe you could be able to play your keyboard well, in place of me. I was always more into classical music, anyway. But you, Akira, play pop songs. I really think you could do it. Not to mention you can actually amplify your keyboard.”

“But the headmaster said you had to perform! I can't just take your spot away!"

“Well…” 

“Digital piano?” Akira suddenly offered.

“Digital piano?” Kaede repeated.

Kanade pulled it out from where it was sitting in the closet, and Akira pointed to it.

“This digital piano right here!”

“Isn’t that a keyboard?”

“A keyboard’s smaller and portable. This is a digital piano. It’s got the damper pedal built in, weighted keys, and all that.”

“That’s a keyboard!” Kaede argued.

“No, it’s a digital piano!” Akira fired back.

“Keyboard!”

“Digital piano!”

“Keyboard!”

“Digital piano, damn it!”

At this point, neither of them could keep a straight face and both of them were close to bursting out into laughter. Yet they still continued their childish bickering.

“Keyboard!”

“Digital piano!”

“Keyboard!”

“Digital piano!”

“KEYBOARD!”

“DIGITAL PIANO!”

At that point, it was over. Both of the girls burst into laughter, which then caused everyone else to start laughing.

After a minute, everyone settled down.

“Alright, fine, let me try the digital piano,” Kaede sighed, with comedic emphasis on “digital piano.” 

“Where’s the speaker?” Ryosuke asked.

“I got it!” Denbe yelled, pulling the speaker from the closet of the music room, along with an auxiliary cord.

Unfamiliar with this new set-up, it took Kaede a moment to find the right port to connect the speaker to. But when she was finally set up, she could finally play loud enough to match Ryosuke.

The group cheered in triumph as Kaede finally completed the song.

“Holy crap, that actually feels like a real piano!” Kaede gasped.

“You’ve never played a digital piano or a keyboard?” Akira asked, in disbelief.

“Well… no. I usually play classical music, and usually, the venues have a tuned piano. I’ve never really… practiced with anything other than a piano made out of wood,” Kaede reluctantly admitted.

“It’s alright! We all learn something new every day! Some days, they’re things that may seem insignificant, but other days, they’re major things, like this!” Hibiki assured Kaede.

“Thanks,” Kaede thanked Hibiki.

“Let’s start practicing the other songs!” Kanade shouted, and the area was rearranged once again as Wild Card performed “Hearts Out Front.”

There were no issues there, as the Ultimate Band was able to play their song smoothly. However, Hibiki had a suggestion.

“Maybe we should actually put that song as the finale and get the crowd to clap at the ‘We’ll end it all’ part. Y’know, bring the entire crowd together for one grand finish?” Hibiki suggested.

“That’s not an issue,” Kaede responded.

Then Melody Rhythm set up for their song.

“We were actually going to play the instrumental of “It’s a New Day” since I don’t think that just my guitar would suffice. I’ve got the auxiliary cords!” Kanade shouted.

“Hang on. How does that work?” Kaede asked.

“Oh, simple! I have my guitar, Hibiki has the microphone, and we just sing as usual. That’s how it works with our concerts!” Kanade answered.

“That gives me a question, though. How do you switch guitars during a performance if you need to go from electric to acoustic?” Ryosuke wondered.

“Well, I usually head backstage to grab the right guitar, and that’s how it works.” Kanade replied.

“Alright,” Ryosuke said, nodding his head in understanding.

Hibiki and Kanade performed their song, but the mood was… off.

“I feel like the song could use a little more… oomph. I don’t know what ‘oomph’ is, but the song needs a little more of it,” Denbe commented.

“You’re not the only one. I noticed it too,” Hibiki agreed. “How could we give the song a boost?”

“I know! What if we had everyone in the audience sing for the final chorus?” Akira suggested.

“That’s perfect!” Kaede shouted in agreement. “A theme of ‘friends are the best when they’re together,’ or something like that!”

"Problem solved!" Hibiki concluded, with a snap of her fingers.

  
  
  


“Alright, I think we’re done for the day!” Kaede told everyone. “Great work!”

“This is great! We could probably meet up more to practice, but remember that school starts in three days, everyone, so if you wanna practice altogether, you better make sure to tell us quick!” Hakuto mentioned.

“Hang on, does everyone want to have dinner as a group?” Hibiki asked the group.

“That sounds great! I do live around here right now, so I don’t think there’s any issue. Where should we eat?” Kaede asked.

“Pizza sound fine?” Denbe suggested.

“Mmm… pizza…” Hakuto sighed.

“Alright, jeez, you didn’t need to be so loud about it! We get it, you have a healthy relationship with pizza,” Kanade joked.

“I do not!” Hakuto objected.

“Oh, so you mean to tell me you’re a pizza slut?” Ryosuke teased, which made the tomato-blush on Hakuto’s face even worse.

“I a-am not a pizza s-slut!” Hakuto stuttered.  
  


“God, do you want a dating scandal?! You should’ve told us you were in a relationship with pizza!” Denbe jokingly scolded him.

“We don’t want your contract to be terminated, you know. Aren’t you the leader of Wild Card?” Kaede pointed out, adding to the teasing.

“Alright, jeez, seriously, stop,” Hakuto groaned in embarrassment. “Why do I associate with people like you guys? And Kaede, I didn't expect you to stoop to the level of teenagers. Why?"

“Because we’re friends, Hakuto, that’s why. Even Kaede. Any fellow lover of music is a fellow friend of ours!” Hibiki cheered.

“Really?” Kaede asked.

“No kidding! You’re an amazing pianist, Kaede! And you’re able to cooperate and be open-minded,” Akira pointed out.

“Really? I don’t think that argument was anything open-minded, y’know…” Kaede told her.

“Hey, it was just a joke,” Akira reassured her.

“If you’re sure."

"Now, where’s the goddamn pizza?” Hakuto shouted.

“We’re getting to that! Where are we eating?” Akira asked the group.

“We should eat at our apartment! It is spacious enough to hold everyone, after all,” Denbe offered.

“But wouldn’t our apartment do the same?” Hibiki rebutted.

“True. Maybe we should eat at your apartment,” Hakuto suggested.

“I guess that would work!” Kanade agreed. “Let’s go!”

"I don't usually get invited to teenagers' houses. Are you really sure about this?"

"It's fine. If you're uncomfortable, then you don't need to come."

"It's alright. I'd like to."

“Wait! We need to clean up the lab first!” Akira reminded everyone.

“Crap, I can’t believe I forgot that! I usually play the piano, but today, I was playing the-”

“...electric piano, right?” Akira filled in Kaede’s sentence.

“Yep. Now, let’s clean up!” Kaede told everyone.

The guitars, electric piano, keyboard, drumset, and microphone stands all went in the closet. The large piano was left in the open, due to not being able to fit in the doorway.

“Pizza time!” Hakuto cheered. Luckily, no derogatory terms were used this time.

The room was cleaned up, and the seven of them headed out of Hope’s Peak, shutting the door of the music lab behind them.

“Alright!” Hibiki cheered, as they all headed to the train station to take the train back to the apartment.

  
  
  


Once they made it back, the seven of them headed to Hibiki and Kanade’s apartment, which was on the same floor as Denbe, Hakuto, Akira, and Ryosuke’s apartment.

“To Kaede, welcome to our apartment! To the rest of you, you’ve seen it before when we invited you guys over for dinner, you know how it looks, yadda yadda, come in!” Kanade told everyone.

The seven of them stepped in.

The apartment had the same layout as Wild Card’s. 

Kaede decided to take a look around.

Right in front of her was the living room, which had a large couch and two sofa chairs facing the TV, which was placed on the right wall. There was a large wooden table in front of the couch.

To the left of the living room was the kitchen, which opened up into the living room instead of having a doorway. It was almost entirely white, save for the stainless-steel refrigerator and the pots, pans, and cutlery.

To her right were five rooms, two to the left, two to the right, and one room at the end of the corridor, which was the bathroom.

Hibiki and Kanade’s rooms were both on the right side, leaving the two on the left to be guest rooms. This was evident in the fact that both of the left rooms were plain, and not decorated. Everything in there was white, except for the hardwood floor.

However, the two right rooms were different. Both of the rooms were bright colors. Hibiki’s room was the first room on the right, and the walls were a bright pink. The bed was in the center of the left wall, with white nightstands on both sides. The bedsheets were blue, and there was a hardwood desk in the top right corner. In the bottom right corner, there was a bookshelf full of music binders.

Kanade’s room had the same layout, but the walls were a bright sky-blue, and the bedsheets were lavender.

The bathroom was entirely white: white tile, white walls, and of course, a white washing machine and dryer.

When Kaede was done exploring, she headed back to the kitchen. Shortly after, Kanade asked the group what pizzas they wanted. Akira suggested three pizzas from a nearby Domino’s. One would have cheese, one would have pepperoni, sausage, and bacon, and one would have just pepperoni.

The seven of them all agreed to this, and Kanade placed the order.

While they waited, they all scrolled through different TV channels. On channel 14 was Nikei, who was narrating a documentary about Hope’s Peak Academy and its history. Channel 17 had a show called “Lucky Daredevils,” where Ultimate Lucky Students did dangerous tricks and managed to come out completely unscathed. Makoto Naegi was the host and the main Lucky Daredevil, with guest star appearances. Tonight featured one of his friends, Hajime Hinata.

Channel 20 had a cooking show, which immediately caught Denbe's attention.

"Stop! Let's see this!"

"Alright," Akira responded, stopping.

“Hello, I’m Hana Kinoshita, and you’re watching the number one cooking show for recipes combined with artistic style to create a food masterpiece! Welcome to Aesthetic Cuisine!” the girl introduced herself.

The girl seemed to have a lot of charisma and was really eye-catching. The studio audience cheered.

“This season, students are heading back to school as the sakura petals bloom. What better way to remind your kids of the incoming times than to make pickled-sakura-petal rice balls with ham and egg flowers? Maybe add a few lettuce leaves in, as well! It helps bring the new season in… to your mouth, that is,” she chuckled, and the audience laughed a little too.

Hana presented a bento box with the mentioned items. The rice balls were a beautiful shade of floral pink, and the ham and egg flowers looked like roses. Leaves stuck out of the flowers, just like Hana mentioned.

“Whoa. I hate pickled sakura petals, but even I’d eat that,” Ryosuke commented.

“This kind of lunch box would be amazing to show on social media!” Kaede added.

Hana proceeded to show the audience how she made her rice balls.

She started by washing the pickled sakura petals and then soaking them in water for three minutes.

Then she moved onto the flowers. She started with thin pieces of ham, flat pieces of lettuce, and sheets of cooked egg.

She then brought out her secret weapon: cheddar cheese.

“Alright, so we all know that ham, egg, and cheese go very well together. What you want to do is place a small piece of cheese at the end of each strip. Think of it as double-sided tape!”

“Can she really use the cheese to stick those pieces together?” Hibiki wondered.

“I mean, I have no idea myself.” Kanade replied.

The doorbell rang.

“I’M GETTING THAT!” Hibiki yelled.

“THANKS, SIS!” Kanade shouted back.

Kanade opened the door, and the pizza delivery person was standing in front of her. She handed the delivery person the correct payment.

All of a sudden, loud cheers were heard from behind her.

The delivery person gave her a look of confusion. Kanade waved it off, took the pizza, and closed the door.

“What the hell just happened?” Kanade asked as she turned around.

“It turns out that trick actually worked! The cheese acted as glue to hold the flowers together!” Akira exclaimed.

“YOU’RE KIDDING.”

“Ryo recorded the entire thing if you want to see it!” Denbe told her eagerly. Quite conveniently, it was the commercial break, so they had enough time to show Kanade the video.

  
  
_The video started playing._

_“Dude, that flower definitely isn’t gonna hold up.” Ryosuke guessed._

_“I think it will!” Akira responded._

_  
__And right at that point, Hana picked up the flower between her thumb and her pointer fingers and lifted it up into the air._

_It held up, and everyone started cheering, with the exception of Kanade, who was getting the pizza at that point._

_“HOLY CRAP!” Kaede yelled._

_“SHE ACTUALLY DID IT!” Hibiki shouted._

_The video feed cut out._

  
  
  


“WHOA!” Kanade agreed, if her exclamatory remark said anything about how she felt.

“I mean, if that’s our first impression of her, she’s probably really good,” Akira assumed.

The commercial break ended, and the sound of the studio audience clapping quickly faded back in, signaling that the show was continuing.

Suddenly, someone’s phone had a notification. 

But it seemed like the sound came from somewhere other than their pockets.

Everyone immediately rushed to check their phones, only to find no one had a notification.

“If you all instinctively grabbed your phones, don’t worry, you didn’t get any notifications. That sound means we’re moving on to our next segment: the Instagram Inquiries!”

Hana continued explaining this segment.

“I asked you guys to create posts with questions you had about any sorts of culinary skills and tag them with the hashtag ‘#cuisinequery.’ We’re going to look through those questions and answer them to the best of our ability, starting now!”

As she spoke, Hibiki got the plates out, and everyone took slices of pizza to eat, before heading back to the couch to look at what Hana was doing.

“Alright, let’s give this baby one quick swipe, and…”

Hana swiped her phone, then quickly stopped it from moving by tapping it.

The post she tapped was conveniently in-frame.

“Ooh, perfect stop! Alright, the question is, ‘Ms. Kinoshita, I was making a stew and added enough salt to taste. However, when I tasted it, it still seemed to be missing some sort of... thing. I'm not sure what. Can I do anything to give the stew an extra boost?’”

“Easy. You need some sort of acidity in that stew! Citrus and vinegars are my main go-to additions for these kinds of recipes. That should solve it! Next question!” Hana answered.

A single swipe and the results came rushing by. This time, Hana let the question slide into place.

It was slightly out of frame, but the entire question was still visible, so Hana proceeded.

“‘Dear Hana, I followed your steps after you introduced that recipe for chocolate ganache cake. I followed the recipe step-by-step, and piped the vanilla cream on top. I thought it was perfect when I refrigerated it, but when I pulled it out of the fridge hours later, the cream was on the sides of the cake! Help?’”

Denbe winced.

“That’s a rookie mistake that person made. I know the answer to that.”

“What is it?” Kanade asked.

“The ganache was still liquid. I know because I made the same mistake making a cake for Akira’s birthday.”

“Oh, I see! The liquid ganache flowed down the cake and took the cream with it too!” Kanade realized.

As if on cue, Hana responded, repeating Denbe’s answer, with a bit more detail.

“This girl’s got a good show, not gonna lie,” Kaede commented. “I’m astonished that she managed to get a show at such a young age! How old is she?"

“Probably 18 at most. If she’s as good in the kitchen as she is with aesthetics, I think she’s really capable,” Hakuto figured.

“This pizza is good!” Kanade interrupted.

“Did you get Coke?” Akira asked.

“No, why?” Kanade responded.

Big mistake on Kanade's part. Hibiki got angry.

“OH, MY GOD, KANADE, YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO GET SODA WITH PIZZA! THAT’S HOW YOU HANDLE THE GREASINESS!” Hibiki yelled.

She instantly regretted it when her younger sister got angry at her and retaliated.

“Geez, sis, calm down! I’ll just go get some from the convenience store near our apartment, you don't have to be so mean,” Kanade groaned, as she stormed out.

  
  
  


The apartment was silent for a few minutes as everyone watched the show in silence.

Finally, Kaede broke it.

  
  
  


“Not gonna lie, that was way too much…” Kaede told HIbiki.

Hibiki sighed, turning to look at Kaede.

“I know, I know… I just overreact. A lot.”

“You think?” Ryosuke jabbed, sarcastically.

“Yeah, no shit. It gets funny for a bit, but after a while, it’s annoying. I’m not sure how Kanade tolerates a sister like me sometimes,” Hibiki worried. 

A regretful look fell upon her face.

“Sometimes, I feel like a bad older sister. I mean, I act all tough on the outside, but then we get thrown into a stressful scenario and I’m the one that runs away, while Kanade’s out there being brave and handling shit I should be doing for her. I… wish I had the bravery and courage she had...” she told everyone.

“Well, if you feel that way, I suppose I might be able to help.”

All eyes focused on the door, where Kanade was now standing with a large bottle of ice-cold Coca-Cola.

“I mean, being able to admit that is brave in itself, big sis, you know that? Not many people have the bravery to admit they’re weak, ironically making them strong. Just like not many people have the bravery to come out,” Kanade continued. “Though, that doesn’t make anyone weak. Especially not you.”

Hibiki suddenly realized what Kanade was referring to. The rest of the group did too.

“You came out at 16, and there was a lot of backlash because you liked a girl. But the way you handled it was perfect. You just kept on being you. No matter what. And I think that’s strong in itself. If you want to learn how to be more brave, I can help you. But to be courageous… I think you already have that skill. You just don’t use it that often,” Kanade assured Hibiki.

“Cause we share the same braincell, right?” Hibiki joked, which made Kanade snicker.

“It’s true! I have the braincell more often, though,” Kanade chuckled.

“Can confirm,” Hibiki agreed, as she opened the Coke and poured glasses for everyone. "Cheers, everyone!"

The group started laughing as they clinked their drinks.

“I think we all just need a good dose of comedy right now,” Kaede suggested, and switched to a comedy channel.

On stage was a surgeon, and oddly enough, he was still dressed in his scrubs.

“You have no idea how bad my job is. I will be eating a salad on my lunch break, listening to classical music, and all of a sudden, ‘DOC! THERE’S THIS GUY THAT HAS A CANDLE UP HIS ASS!’ Like, I don’t need to know about this! Especially not in front of my fucking salad and for all the patients and medical residents to hear!”

Some of the group laughed at the reference.

Some of the group groaned at the dry humor.

But two things were certain. One, they were absolutely ready for the concert.

And two, they were having fun right now.

Kaede left at midnight, leaving the rest of the group to go wild until they passed out. 

Empty glasses were on the table. 

The TV was still running. 

And the six musicians were passed out on the couch, snoring, as their day had concluded hours ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is appreciated!


	4. 6:00 AM (Before the Opening Ceremony)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today's the first day of school for Hope's Peak students!
> 
> Melody Rhythm and Wild Card prepare for school and have a sudden run-in with the CEO of their entertainment company prior to heading to Hope's Peak.

The weekend passed quickly, and soon enough, the first day of school at Hope’s Peak had come. Their belongings were already packed and in boxes, and labeled accordingly.

Hakuto jumped up in glee at 6:00 AM, excited.

“It’s today, it’s today, it’s today! Whoo!”

This was followed by pulling out his phone and yelling at the other members of his band to wake up.

When none of them woke up, he resorted to causing all of their phones to beep with the amount of texts he was about to send.

* * *

**Is This Your Card?**

_Tuesday, April 7th_

_6:03 AM_

**Jack:** WAKE UP

**Jack:** WAKE UP

**Jack:** WAKE UP

**Jack:** WAKE UP

**Jack:** WAKE UP

**Jack:** WAKE UP

**Jack:** WAKE UP

**Jack:** WAKE UP

**Jack:** WAKE UP

**Jack:** WAKE UP

**Jack:** WAKE UP

**Jack:** WAKE UP

**Jack:** WAKE UP

**Jack:** WAKE UP

**Ace:** There better be a good fucking reason I woke up at 6 am to the sound of my phone notifications or I’m whacking a bitch.

**Ace:** WAIT.

**Jack:** SORRY

**Jack:** NEEDED TO REMIND YOU TO HAVE YOUR OUTFITS READY

**Ace:** SHIT, I FORGOT ABOUT THAT.

**Queen:** wha

**Queen:** OH RIGHT

**Ace:** Luckily for me, I had my outfit ready!

**Jack:** YES

**King:** same here I’m already ready to go

**Jack:** THAT’S EVEN BETTER

**Queen:** Well now that’s three of a kind

**Jack:** I’M MAKING THAT FOUR

**Ace:** Great, we’ve got our outfits coordinated! I’ll wait for you guys in the living room and we’ll head to the cafe to discuss some stuff before we head to Hope’s Peak!

**Jack:** GOT IT!

* * *

Hakuto grinned, as he headed to the en-suite bathroom and had a shower.

Afterwards, he pulled on a white, double-breasted school uniform with red cuffs, a white tie, and a red undershirt with pink cuffs, along with khakis ripped in the knee-area and pink fingerless gloves. He also put on some white socks.

This was his usual outfit that he wore to concerts, because the school-student concept was overused in the world of music.

The main outlier, as he knew, was the ripped part of his khakis. It was meant to symbolize how they weren’t just goody-two-shoes. They had a more rebellious side. Again, overused.

But he figured that it would still be acceptable in Hope’s Peak, since they didn’t have to wear school uniforms. After all, the CEO of I.M. Entertainment went so far as to have holes in her socks, and was never called out for it.

Hakuto rushed out of his bedroom holding the boxes labeled with his belongings. He then headed to the door of the apartment to grab his sneakers again only to meet Ryosuke, sitting on the couch wearing a black school uniform of the same style, with pink cuffs. He also had a black tie, and a pink undershirt, along with denim jeans, white socks, and his black-and-blue high-top sneakers. He had red fingerless gloves on both hands.

The boxes with Ryosuke's belongings sat on the floor, in front of his feet.

“How are you already here when I woke you up?” Hakuto asked him, flabbergasted.

“I showered and dressed quickly,” Ryosuke responded, with no further addition to his reply.

Once Hakuto had his black-and-red sneakers on, he headed back to the couch and sat down. Luckily, the floors were hardwood, so he wasn’t tracking dirt onto a carpet.

Akira soon walked out of her bedroom wearing the same school uniform, but red with black cuffs. With that, she had a red tie, a black undershirt, white jeans with rectangular holes at the knees, black socks, and short high-heeled boots that were pink and black. She had white fingerless gloves on both hands.

She was immediately followed by Denbe, who had the same-style school uniform, but pink with white cuffs, as well a white undershirt, a pink tie, black pants with white stripes down the sides, black socks, and tall black-and-white boots that reached below his knees. Along with that, his hands had black fingerless gloves.

  
“You guys ready? We need to be back here by 8:00, because there’s gonna be a moving truck outside with our belongings, along with a limo to drive us there,” Hakuto reminded them.

“No problem!” Akira replied.

“You got it!” Denbe responded.

“You already know my answer,” Ryosuke told him.

“Well, with that out of the way, let’s go!” Hakuto shouted, as he opened the door. Everyone strolled out.

Hakuto made sure to lock the door behind him before closing it, and the four of them walked to the elevator and stepped in.

The doors closed, and they were going down. Hakuto remembered to take in the view, as it was the last time he was going to be doing so—at least, for a while.

The four musicians walked out of the elevator, out of the apartment complex, and stepped into a bright, sunny day. A good start.

They headed to the subway.

Luckily for them, the train came in by the time they’d all paid for their tickets, allowing them to get in quickly before they were spotted.

Unlike when they went shopping, however, they were very recognizable, so it didn’t take long before someone recognized them.

It was a boy a few years younger than him, a tween at best. He had brown hair, a blue shirt, and denim jeans. On his feet were black sneakers.

“Oh, hello! I’m a big fan of your music!” he greeted them, waving with bright eyes.

“Aw, thanks! It’s great to meet a fan!” Denbe responded gleefully.

“Can I have your signatures?” he asked.

“Oh, no problem!” Denbe responded, taking a card out of his left breast pocket: the king of clubs. He signed his name on the back, followed by Akira, Hakuto, and Ryosuke. Once they all signed, Denbe handed the card to the kid, who took it with joy.

“Thank you!” he yelled, as he headed back to where his mother was sitting. She looked happy that her son got a signature from a famous band he liked.

That made the day even better.

Just then, the train arrived at the station, and the four of them headed out with all the adults and kids that were trying to make it to their destinations: school, the office, to the mall, etc.

As for these four, they were headed to the Sunshine Cafe to pick up some pastries and lemonade for breakfast. It was a special occasion, after all.

Denbe ordered pancakes with chocolate syrup and whipped cream, Hakuto ordered strawberry waffles with vanilla ice cream, Akira ordered scrambled eggs and bacon with hashbrowns and toast, and Ryosuke ordered a breakfast sandwich, with eggs, bacon, cheese, lettuce, and tomato. All of them also ordered lemonade to go with it.

Removing their gloves, the four of them chattered among themselves about random topics while they ate, like the music charts, what to expect and what they were eager for at Hope's Peak, schedules, and current events, among other things.

They finished long before 8:00 am, and decided to head back early.

By the time they got back to the apartment, it was 7:23. They all headed back up on the elevator to the seventh floor again, and nothing had changed at all. Their belongings were still there.

“Wait, we almost forgot to pack our supplies!” Ryosuke suddenly yelled.

“We packed our school supplies. You forgot,” Denbe responded.

“Oh.”

Ryosuke headed back in to pack all of his stuff into his backpack. It didn’t take too long, and by the time he finished, Akira spotted the moving truck coming in.

“Oh, it’s here, everyone! Let’s go!”

And once again, the four of them headed downstairs with their bags full of school supplies. Hakuto, unlike the rest of them, had a blue messenger bag instead of a backpack. 

Akira, Denbe, and Ryosuke had solid-colored backpacks. Akira’s was purple, Denbe’s was black, and Ryosuke’s was sky-blue.

As the elevator doors opened at the lobby, the four of them came face to face with the CEO of I.M. Entertainment company. The one that had thought these guys could be rockstars in the future, because she trusted and believed they could. The CEO that supported them all during their debut.

Ibuki Mioda.

She looked very different today. She wore a sailor school uniform and a corresponding skirt. There were quite a noticeable things about her that contrasted with the way she was dressed. One, her mismatched socks, which were pink and blue, and had holes in them.

Two, her black hair was styled in two spiky demon horns instead of being down. They had streaks of pink, blue, and white in them.

Three, the black-and-pink fingerless glove on her left hand, which reached to just below her elbow, plus the three rings on her left hand and the scrunchie on her right hand.

If you took a look at her right now, you'd never think she was the CEO of an entertainment company.

But she was.

“Hey, rockstars! Ibuki thinks you look absolutely great!” she complimented them.

“Thanks, miss Mioda! You know you don’t have to speak like that, right?” Hakuto reminded her.

“Hah, I know. But Ibuki is suddenly reminded of when she was in Hope’s Peak… which was about ten years ago, mind you, so Ibuki can remember a lot of things!” she replied triumphantly, giving a shiny grin. “I got dressed in my old outfit from when I used to perform because it reminded me of when I was younger!”

“Whoa. You're old,” Ryosuke said, shocked.

“Yep, 29. Turning 30 this year, actually.”

“Wait, so how long has I.M. Entertainment actually been up for?” Kanade inquired.

“Actually, a really long while!” Ibuki responded. “About 10 years, actually, since it first started in 2010, on May 1st. Ibuki had slowly invested money in the equipment she’d need for the company during her three years at Hope’s Peak, so the only thing left for Ibuki to do was to open the company, hire managers and allow musicians to sign contracts!”

"Whoa. Nice job. That must have been hard!" Kanade commented.

“Guess so. But I'm the ultimate musician. I've got a whole lot of knowledge on both sides of the music industry!” Ibuki said.

“Well, that is true. Do you want us to help you out with getting our belongings so we don’t need to worry about being late?” Akira offered. “We forgot to grab them, but if you’d like…”

“That would be great! Ibuki thanks you guys for being such rad people!” she cheered, stepping into the elevator alongside the four of them. Hakuto pressed the button to go back to the seventh floor.

“How are you guys feeling?” Ibuki asked the group. “I know that the idea of going to such a grand school can be terrifying.”

“No kidding. I’m actually more worried about how people are going to react, rather than how the classes are going to be. Hibiki and Kanade invited us into their class group chat so we could ask them questions about Hope’s Peak!” Hakuto replied.

“Kanade and Hibiki are actually really smart for doing that. Ibuki oughta thank them later!” Ibuki said in a chipper manner.

The elevator stopped at the seventh floor, where Kanade and Hibiki had just left their apartment, dressed in fancier versions of their usual performance outfits. This time, both of the twins had white jeans as well, and their purple jackets were replaced by purple button-down blouses of the same color, not revealing the school uniform beneath.

While the four first-years headed into their apartment to pick up their belongings, the twins rushed over to the CEO to greet her.

“Hey hey hey, miss Mioda!” Kanade shouted.

“Kanade, Hibiki, thanks for helping those four guys learn what it’s like to be at Hope’s Peak!” Ibuki thanked them. “You’ve definitely made sure they’ll be comfortable, am I right?”

“You definitely are!” Hibiki responded with passion, high-fiving Ibuki.

“That’s what I like to hear! You girls wanna ride with them to Hope’s Peak?” Ibuki offered.

“Are you serious? Of course we will! Thanks, miss Mioda!”

“You can call Ibuki Ibuki. Ibuki does not mind being called Ibuki,” Ibuki laughed. “But seriously, no big deal. I did call a limo, so…”

“Wow, just like with us last year! You’re really nice, Ibuki!” Kanade thought.

“Hey, I figured I have to treat my artists with respect. There are a lot of nasty entertainment companies out there and I don’t want to become one of them,” Ibuki shuddered at the thought.

“Well, are the four of them okay?” Hibiki asked.

“We’re ready!” Ryosuke suddenly responded, heading out of the dorm holding a few boxes in his hands.

“Perfect! Are the others ready too?” Ibuki questioned.

The other three members walked out shortly after with their boxes, answering her question. Hakuto locked the dorm up with his free left hand.

“Great! We’re all ready to go, then!” Ibuki shouted joyfully.

The seven of them walked into the elevator. Kanade pressed the button for the lobby, and they went down for the final time.

Luckily, no one had forgotten anything, so the rest of the packing went smoothly. The moving truck was loaded with the members’ belongings, and the seven of them got into the limo to take off to Hope’s Peak.

“I can’t wait!” Hakuto exclaimed. 

He was smiling a bit too hard, but it was because he was practically exploding with energy. His white hair could’ve glowed if he were a character from an anime.

“Alright, Hakuto, calm down, or you’ll pass out from overexcitement, or something like that,” Akira chuckled.

“Sorry. I really just can’t wait to see what Hope’s Peak is like!” Hakuto responded.

“Well, I guess we could make a toast with some sparkling cider! After all, none of you are old enough to drink yet!” Ibuki shouted, grabbing a bottle of sparkling apple cider from the minifridge, along with seven champagne glasses.

  
“One second!” Kanade popped the cork off the bottle and poured equal portions of cider into the seven glasses.

“Alright, a toast to Hope’s Peak Academy and to seven ultimate performers!” Kanade yelled.

“Cheers!” Everyone clinked their glasses and took a sip of their cider.

“To I.M. Entertainment, who will be hitting their 10-year anniversary in less than a month!” Ibuki shouted.

“Cheers!” Once again, everyone clinked their glasses and took a sip of cider.

“And finally, to Ibuki Mioda herself, for being able to open up an entertainment company and keep it up for 10 years strong!” Hakuto cheered.

“Cheers!” For the final time, everyone took their glasses, clinked them together, and finished their cider.

The group’s energy was at an all-time high. Everyone was finding success in their life, and six of I.M. Entertainment’s performers were able to get into Hope’s Peak. The rest were either former alumni or extraordinary performers with the unseen capability to be an Ultimate.

That seemed to make everything even better.

Thirty minutes later, the limo arrived at Hope’s Peak with the moving truck, at 8:35 AM.

The six current students stepped out, and so did Ibuki, to wave her performers goodbye.

“Goodbye, everyone!” Ibuki yelled. “Make sure to keep on rockin’! Ibuki knows you can!”

The six students ran back to give Ibuki a big group hug.

“Are you gonna throw a party for I.M. Entertainment’s ten-year anniversary?” Hibiki asked.

“You bet! I’ve already made sure to reserve seats for the six of you, and the party’s gonna be big!” Ibuki said in a celebratory tone.

“Really?! Thanks, Ibuki!” Hakuto thanked her.

“No problem,” she replied.

All of a sudden, clamoring was heard from behind them. The seven of them turned around. There were four people running towards them. 

One was a strawberry blonde-haired girl, who had a pink sailor school uniform with a matching skirt, black high-heeled boots, black fingerless gloves, and brown-and-yellow goggles on her forehead. On her back was a metal backpack with two claw arms extending from it.

The second was a near-identical version of the first person, but if she was a boy. He was also noticeably shorter than the girl. His long blonde hair was covered by a brown leather cap. The same brown goggles that the girl had were sat on the brim. He had a pink-button down short-sleeved shirt with a black bow-tie. He also had black fingerless gloves, which extended to right below his elbows. He had ripped black jeans and black boots. He also had a metal backpack, but without the claw arms.

The third person was a green-haired boy. He had many piercings lining his right ear and only one on his left, and wore three shirts. Two were black and white and were worn underneath, but the one that was worn on top was a dark-blue striped shirt with a ship’s steering wheel on the bottom right corner. He wore many rings and had two bracelets for each of his wrists. He also wore light-brown pants and dark blue slip-ons.

And the final person, a boy, who was at the front of the pack and running away, had a metallic-looking, black school uniform with a collar that seemed to glisten in the sunlight… or maybe it was. He had white hair that was hidden under a small black beret, though it didn’t do much. On his back was a silver backpack.

“Kiibo! You fuckin’ bitch, get back here so I can give you your updates!"

“No, Miu! I don’t like when you and Mitsuo give me updates!”

“Too fuckin’ bad, Kiibs, you’re gonna need them if you don’t want to have errors every minute!”

"HEY, ONLY I CAN CALL HIM KIIBS, MITSU!"

“Come on, Kiibo, please?”

“Rantaro, I love you, but I really don’t love when I need to have upda-”

“KIIBO, LOOK THE FUCK OUT BEFORE YOU CRASH INTO THE-”

_CRASH!_

“...limo…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cinnamonroll.exe has crashed.
> 
> reboot?
> 
> >yes no
> 
> And the sixth person in Class 81 has been introduced!


	5. 15 Minutes to Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We find out what happened to Kiibo, and get to know the sixth student of Class 81 a little better. Turns out he's really close to a certain person in his life (and not in that way, you nasty).
> 
> Turns out he's also a lot like his sister. Yikes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is relatively short to prepare for the opening ceremony events.

Time seemed to stop as everyone looked at the events that had just happened in horror.

Someone had crashed into one of the windows of the limo and had incapacitated himself.

“OH, SHIT. MITSUO, GET KIIBS OUT ASAP!” the blonde girl yelled.

“GOT IT, BITCH!” her counterpart responded.

“KIIBO, ARE YOU OKAY?!” the green-haired boy yelled at his boyfriend.

Kiibo was not replying. He was knocked out.

“I GOT KIIBS, NOW LET’S FUCKIN’ GO! HIS AHOGE BROKE OFF!” the boy named Mitsuo yelled to Miu.

“DON’T GOTTA TELL ME TWICE, GODDAMN IT!” Miu responded back. “SORRY ABOUT THE LIMO!” she yelled to the seven musicians.

The green-haired boy named Rantaro was standing there in shock.

“Oh, my god, Rantaro,” Ibuki suddenly said. “Is Kiibo gonna be alright?”

“I… I hope so…” Rantaro muttered.

“How do you know him?” Denbe asked.

“Used to be a third-year when he was a first-year,” Ibuki responded. “And oh, man. I’m not as worried about the limo as I am worried about Kiibo. I mean, he’s a robot, but still…” Ibuki worried.

“Oh, god,” Rantaro sighed.

Was Kiibo gonna be okay after crashing through a window?

“Sorry, guys, I’m gonna go follow them!” Hakuto suddenly yelled, sprinting to floor them.

“WAIT UP!” Akira responded, and the rest of the musicians and Rantaro followed close behind.

“YOU DON’T NEED TO PAY FOR THE LIMO’S DAMAGE COSTS, I’LL HANDLE IT!” Ibuki yelled, as she waved goodbye.

She apologized to the limo driver for the accident, and luckily, the driver was very forgiving and let the situation slide. He drove away, leaving Ibuki in front of the school.

“Oh, boy, that was a thrill!” she exclaimed. Despite what had happened, she was still smiling. “Hope’s Peak was a blast, and it always will be,” she reminisced, before turning around and heading to the train station to head back to I.M. Entertainment.

  
  
  


Meanwhile, the seven students were hot on the tail of Miu, Mitsuo, and Kiibo. They rushed up the stairs behind them and followed them to their destination, which was… the inventor’s lab?

  
Mitsuo opened the door, and the three of them headed in. The other seven were about to enter the lab when...

“HEY, WHAT ARE YOU BITCHES DOING HERE?! DID YOU WANT TO FOLLOW US HERE FOR A QUICK ORGY BEFORE THE OPENING CEREMONY? WELL YOU AIN’T GETTING ANY OF THIS, YOU HORNY VIRGINS, SO FUCK OFF!” Mitsuo yelled at them in rapid succession, all of a sudden.

“WE’RE HERE TO SEE IF KIIBO’S ALRIGHT, MITSUO, SO DON’T YELL AT US LIKE THAT!” Rantaro yelled back.

“Kyaah! Oh, I’m sorry, I dunno what came over me! I just-I… sorry, just please don’t intrude right now, we’re in the process of repairing Kiibo. And of course he ain’t alright, his ahoge fell off and for sure something else broke!” Mitsuo responded quickly, shutting the door in their faces.

Luckily for them, the inventor’s lab had a window on the side so they could see everything that the inventors were doing. The glass did muffle their yelling, which was a relief.

“Oh, goddamn it, Kiiboy! You stupid idiot, you managed to get yourself knocked out by crashing into a fucking limo window,” Miu muttered.

“Ow… my head…” Kiibo suddenly woke up. “WAIT, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? STOP, PLEASE!”

“Oh, my fucking god, Kiibo! Your ahoge broke off, you crashed through a window and me and Miu gotta repair your shit now, and you’re still being stubborn? Couldn’t you power off or something?” Mitsuo huffed, removing his leather hat and using it to fan himself, putting his goggles over his eyes.

“Fine…” Kiibo groaned, powering off. His body went limp.

“Fuckin’ finally,” Miu muttered. Then she noticed the seven people spying on them.

“OI! STOP BEING SO VOYEURISTIC AND FUCK OFF ALREADY! FUCKIN’ DICKHEADS!” she yelled.

All of them slowly backed away from the window, before darting away.

“Jesus fuck, I see what Nikei meant now,” Hakuto shuddered, as they walked back outside. “Miu Iruma is a fuckin’ nightmare if you get on her bad side.”

“You think? And I was her classmate for three years!” Rantaro exclaimed.

"You were in her class?" Denbe asked, shocked.

“Yep. Rantaro Amami, Ultimate Adventurer. And I know you guys are Wild Card, but what’d you get into the school as?” he asked.

“I guess you could say we’re the Ultimate Band. We’re all first-years,” Ryosuke responded. “I’m the Ultimate Drummer, Hakuto’s the Ultimate Guitarist, Denbe’s the Ultimate Vocalist, and Akira’s the Ultimate Keyboardist.”

“Oh, we had an Ultimate Pianist in our class. Kaede Akamatsu. She’s more classically-inclined, though,” Rantaro commented.

“I see,” Akira took note. “I’ve heard about her from the second-years. She seems to be a nice person.”

“She is,” Rantaro replied. “She’s a really selfless person, and she’s someone we all admire.”

“That’s nice,” Hakuto responded.

“But enough about me. You guys just ran into your first classmate!” Rantaro changed the subject.

“Who?” Denbe asked.

“Mitsuo Iruma, the boy alongside Miu. He’s as much of a cursing loudmouth as she is. Ultimate Mechanic.”

“WHAT?!” the four musicians yelled.

“Oh, right… bad first encounter. Well, that’s not good…” Kanade groaned.

“No, it’s fine. I’m not that upset at you guys,” Mitsuo suddenly interrupted from behind them.

Rantaro and the six other students jumped back in shock.

“Hey, chill. Miu told me to go because she didn’t want me to miss the opening ceremony, and wanted me to tell one of the adults she and Kiibo might be late. It’s tradition that the first-years are able to interact with the events in the opening ceremony, and Miu wants me to experience everything Hope’s Peak has to offer, since it’s my first year here. She may be angsty and a cursing loudmouth, but being horny isn’t her only character trait, y’know.”

"I kinda wish I was able to be an Ultimate Inventor like her, but boy, was I fuckin' unlucky this year. Two other people challenged me for it. Jesus. Thankfully, Miu suggested Mechanic instead, and honestly, I kinda vibed with it, so I took it."

“That’s nice of her to do, helping you like that. But why do you guys call each other vulgar nicknames? I never really understood it,” Rantaro wondered.

“Eh, it’s just cause we’re siblings like that. We may seem to hate each other, but really, we fuckin’ love each other. And not in a weird way like that Kiyo fucker,” Mitsuo jabbed.

“Hey, I already told you that wasn’t his fault!” Rantaro told Mitsuo off.

“Yeah… I just wanted to make a dark joke to try and ease the mood, sorry…” Mitsuo apologized

“It’s fine, but please don’t make jokes like that again. They’re seen as insensitive and people don’t like those kinds of things.”

“Yeah, yeah, I fuckin’ know, now let’s go, because it’s eight-five-zero. And I’m not about to miss the opening ceremony in the gym.”

“It’s 8:50?!” Akira suddenly shouted, in horror.

“Yeah, chill.”

“How the fuck do we get to the gym?!” Akira yelled. “We followed you guys here!”

“Oh, shit, first time?”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN FIRST TIME?!”

“Hey, I already know the layout of Hope’s Peak, and it ain’t that fuckin’ hard to memorize. First floor, it’s just right there in front of you, there’s four stairwells, and they all take you right there.”

“Oh, thanks!” Akira thanked him, mentally facepalming at the fact that she missed the gym when she went there to practice a few days ago.

“Not a big deal, now let’s go already!” Mitsuo yelled.

All of them rushed down one of the stairwells to the first floor and immediately were in front of the auditorium.

“That’s convenient,” Denbe commented. “I can’t believe we didn’t notice it the first time.”

“Yeah, it’s just right there, now let’s go before we miss it!” Mitsuo told them.

Akira opened the door to see that the auditorium was almost completely full, and people were bunching into their usual friend groups and chatting amongst themselves.

The four musicians rushed over to the backstage area.

While they were headed there, Mitsuo noticed everyone else sat down.

“Whoa. That quick?” He was stunned, before noticing that the headmaster, Jin Kirigiri, was standing on the stage with a microphone in his hand. Likely, he had actually just told all the students to sit down.

“Oh. Damn." he commented, taking his seat.

Denbe, Akira, Ryosuke, Hakuto, Kanade, and Hibiki all headed backstage to meet Kaede. The instruments were all set up.

“What took you so long?” she whispered.

“Kiibo crashed into a limo,” Hibiki quietly responded.

Kaede facepalmed.

“At least you’re here.”

The opening ceremony of Hope’s Peak Academy was going to begin soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hm. To make up for the short length, I've gotta pose a question!
> 
> I know!
> 
> Mitsuo Iruma is the sixth student of Class 88. However, as of right now, all we know besides him being in Class 88 is that Denbe, Akira, Ryosuke, and Hakuto are also in Class 88.
> 
> So... who's the fifth student of Class 88? Have we been introduced to them yet?
> 
> Heh, that should be easy to figure out. There's one place in particular you can look!


	6. Opening Ceremony: Act 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The seven musicians get to perform their first song of the opening ceremony, after Class 81 gets a rundown of how Hope's Peak Academy works.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally beat my writer's block! Whoo!
> 
> This is my first attempt at incorporating songs into a story, so I hope it doesn't go too badly!

And now, the seven musicians were backstage, nervous about their performance. 

While they all did have a lot of confidence about how well they could play, it wasn’t unusual to have stage fright before performing.

“God, this is terrifying,” Hakuto commented.

“You think?” Kaede replied. “It’s always nerve-racking before a performance, even for me.”

“I agree!” someone called from the back. Luckily, they weren’t loud enough to be caught.

A girl with blue hair stepped out. She was wearing a two-toned clown costume that was blue on her right side and pink on her left, and she also had a red clown nose on.

“I always get so nervous before I perform! It might not be for the same reasons, but you can bet that I’m still going to get nervous!” she exclaimed, dangerously approaching the line of being too loud.

“Could you be quiet?” Kanade asked her. “And who are you, anyway?”

“Oh, damn it. Satsuki has to be stupid like this, doesn’t she?” she groaned. “Satsuki Iranami, a third-year at Hope’s Peak. Ultimate Clown.”

“Oh, you’re a third-year?” Kanade asked.

“She just said she was,” Hibiki told her.

Kanade groaned. “I mean, duh, just wanted to make sure she wasn’t lying about it and was secretly some sort of intruder, or anything.”

“Yeah, imagine that. A clown like Satsuki just pulling out a gun and holding up the school? That’s silly. In reality, Satsuki just wanted to be a part of the opening ceremony. It’s nice to see the students’ faces when they all laugh at my tricks, you know?” she chuckled, a lot quieter, to the relief of the rest of the students. 

But her expression went from joking to somewhat solemn and regretful.

“I kinda wish my boyfriend was here right now to cheer her on, but he’s currently flyin’ a plane to an airport in another continent ‘cause of his job. Too bad,” she sighed. "He should be here right now, but no, he figured he could try to squeeze in one last flight to America and back prior to going back to school. Then the airplane got caught in a storm, and now the flight's delayed."

“You have a boyfriend?” Akira asked. “What’s his name?”

“Oh, Haruhiko Kobashikawa. You might have heard of him. Famous pilot,” Satsuki told them. “He’s just amazin’, and I really love him. He’s just so supportive and he makes me laugh and feel happy and just… y’know…”

“Nyeh, Satsuki, you’re being too loud…” someone else called from backstage. The person then immediately rushed forward, alongside Mikado, who wore the same outfit they had seen in the mall.

The person was a girl, and had red hair. She wore a black witch hat with a red strip of cloth on it, as well as a black Hope’s Peak blazer with its symbol on her left breast pocket. Underneath the blazer was a grey blouse under a brown sweater-vest. She also wore a red skirt, dark brown tights, and brown medieval boots with white ribbons around the ankles. Around her shoulders was a cape that was black on the outside and red on the inside.

But the most obvious thing to note was that she was also noticeably shorter than everyone else.

“Himiko!” Kaede whispered. “You’re gonna waste your energy if you do that!”

“That made me lose some of my MP…” she groaned. Kaede facepalmed for the second time in a row, and the ceremony hadn’t even begun.

“Oh, dear! I will not have a magic friend be tired before our grand performance!” Mikado quietly spoke, and gave her a bottle of water.

“Nyeh… thanks, Mikado,” she thanked him, as she gulped down the water. It seemed to have an instantaneous effect on her, as she was energized in an instant.

“This is Himiko Yumeno, my magical friend! She is a former student and Ultimate Magician,” Mikado introduced her to everyone, with the exception of Kaede, as Himiko had been in her class. Himiko waved lazily.

“It’s almost time! Everyone, stay out of view of the audience until your event!” Mikado told everyone.

Everyone split up and headed to the stage wings.

And then a bell started ringing in harmonious chimes. The ceremony was about to begin.

Satsuki gave a silent cheer from the right wing of the stage.

And Mr. Kirigiri started speaking as soon as the bells faded out.

“Dear students, welcome to Hope’s Peak Academy. I am proud to welcome you all here, whether you are a student coming here for the first time, or a returning student.”

The audience gave a round of applause, as Mr. Kirigiri nodded.

“The world is always going to be full of despair. But where there is despair, there is also hope. And my intentions were always to have this academy be a pathway for hope, so that you all can spread it into the world and empower it, to make it better. That is how it will always be, no matter what. So thank you for all the hard work that you do right now and will do in the future, students. The faculty and I appreciate your efforts, and you’re doing great.”

The audience started clapping and cheering for themselves.

“Hold on, here, I’m not done,” Mr. Kirigiri chuckled, before his expression suddenly became slightly more serious. “As you may know, the world is currently spiraling into despair due to a global pandemic caused by COVID-19. At times like this, it is imperative that you all train your Ultimates so that they are the best they can be. It helps people remember that there is still hope for the future.”

The audience quietly chattered among themselves.

“I am sure you are all aware of the plan Prime Minister Abe has to call for a state of emergency in seven regions. Tokyo is part of one of them. Yet, despite this, we will still keep teaching. We need now, more than ever, for all of you to be at your best. And do not worry. We have an Ultimate Doctor attending the academy, and will be showing him what to do in case this happens.”

"I must admit that I have messed up myself. I did not find out about the news until today, so today will be your only day of being able to move around freely on campus. Please exercise caution," he announced.

A few people murmured in understanding, though a few people didn’t approve of this procedure entirely.

“That is all for right now. Does anyone have any questions?” Mr. Kirigiri finally finished.

One person raised their hand: a blue-haired boy with bright white clothing, except for his grey undershirt, the blue collar of his jacket, and black tie. He sat at the back.

“Um, if we have to keep attending classes, how will classes work, with social distancing and the teachers and all?” he asked.

“Ah, Yamato, as expected of you. We will obey social distancing, and thankfully, the classrooms have more than enough space for you all to be spaced out properly. You will still be seated in rows of four. Your teachers will also be examined to see if they are healthy enough to work each day. If not, we will have them send in robots.”

“R-Robots?” Yamato was shocked. "I wasn't told about that!"

“Well, I can explain for your dumbasses if you want!” someone suddenly yelled from backstage.

“Miu, please tone down your language a bit,” Mr. Kirigiri asked her politely, as she stepped out onstage.

“Whoops, sorry, Mr. Kirigiri. Mind if I explain it to him, though?” Miu responded.

“You may. Do you need the microphone?” he inquired, once again.

“No need,” she replied, as she headed towards the front of the stage.

“Alright, everyone, listen up!” she yelled, and was thankfully loud enough for everyone to hear.

“So, you heard. I’m making robots for the teachers to control, so if they do ever have to stay home, they can still teach, since we don’t have any substitutes that can teach spectacular students like you, right?” she shouted.

A few people shouted back “Yes!”

  
“Alright, so what I’m gonna do is give the robots speakers and whatnot, as well as have them be able to see what their robot is doing. Also, please don’t think about throwing things at the robots, because I programmed them to have self-defense mechanisms. Can’t have the students destroying the robots and then proceeding to have a fuckin’ field day, am I right?”

“Miu!” Mr. Kirigiri exclaimed.

“Ack, sorry,” Miu groaned, as she realized what she’d just done. “But anyway, yeah, that’s how it’s gonna go. The robots are designed after our school mascot, the Monokuma, and I named them the Monokubz, that’s M-O-N-O-K-U-B-Z! I’m testing them out today, so be prepared to see a whole lot of two-toned bears!” she yelled, as she ran backstage.

The audience clapped.

“Thank you, Miu,” Mr. Kirigiri thanked her. “Do we have any other questions?”

“I do!” someone from the front shouted, raising her hand. She had orange hair, along with a white shirt and jacket, black jeans, black socks, and pink, high-heeled, short boots. A black-and-blue visor sat on her head, and a white watch wrapped around her wrist.

“How will lunch proceed?” was her question.

“Ah, that. We will, in the case that COVID-19 cases do escalate to the point that Japan has to shut down, follow social distancing there, as well. We will have you all sit six feet apart, as is the rule, at assigned tables. Unfortunately, the lunch tables were not big enough to allow for this to happen, so we had to get three extra tables to allow this to happen. Worse, Class 88 almost caused us to get a fourth table solely for one person to sit there. However, Kirumi was very diligent and proposed a solution that would allow for everyone to sit appropriately, so I thank her for that.”

“As for the food itself, we will make sure that it is kept safe and clean, and I expect you to do the same. We do not want our students consuming contaminated food, after all.”

“I’m not gonna let you down there!” she shouted with determination.

“Now, are there any more questions?”

“Since we all have to attend gym, how will locker rooms work?” a person at the back asked. He had a blue shirt and white shorts, and a black headband kept his bleached hair out of his face.

“Mitsuhiro, in that scenario, we would have students head to their dorms directly after classes were over, to shower there.” he answered. “However, you are all still free to keep using the gym however you please, students, even after gym class is over.”

“I see. Thank you,” Mitsuhiro responded.

“I also have a question!” Hibiki asked from backstage. “In the case that Japan goes under a major lockdown, like, state of emergency, major crisis, lockdown, shutdown, you know, all that, how will classes go? Some of us need our labs to be able to train our Ultimates!”

Kanade groaned. “Sis, could you think for once? Obviously, that would mean we’d have to bring our stuff! And get back here!”

“Kanade is right, Hibiki. In that case, I’d ask you all to bring the items from your labs to your dorms if they could fit there, and for the others that wouldn’t be able to do so, unfortunately, I would only have you participate in your usual classes. I can only do so much, and I’m sorry I can’t do more for you all. The best I could do is hope that we never have to have that happen. It’s not too bad right now, thankfully. I think that’s all the questions for right now, so let’s move on. Also, Hibiki, please return backstage.”

“Oops, sorry, heh,” Hibiki chuckled nervously. Kanade gave her a small pat on the shoulder, as if to tell her it was okay.

“Now, as for you, Class 88, I will explain how things are going to proceed here in Hope’s Peak, and this will be maintained for the three years you will be here, so make sure to listen carefully.”

Eighteen out of the twenty-two students of class 88 sat up straight in their chairs, at the front of the auditorium. The rest were more laid-back or chattering amongst themselves.

And the other four students of Class 88, backstage, listened in too.

“You all will receive e-Handbooks. These e-Handbooks are your student IDs and much more. With them, you will be able to do a number of things, including unlock your dorms, view the rules and your schedules, check your grades, and things like that. We’ve also added two new features into your e-Handbooks. One is an online newspaper.”

“Yeah!” someone in the audience cheered. Without looking, everyone could tell that was Nikei.

“I appreciate your enthusiasm, Nikei,” Mr. Kirigiri told him. “Back to what I was saying, the other feature is actually something I thought would be a good idea, back when we weren’t facing COVID-19. It relates to your student IDs.”

“You all will have a whitelist for your dorms. This can allow people you trust, like your friends, to unlock your dorm and enter. As of right now, fortunately, this has not been misused.” he told Class 88.

“Whoo!” they all cheered, some of them turning to look at their friends.

“Now, as for classes, you all are going to have two periods in the morning for classes. These are math and history. They will each last one hour. After those classes, you all will have a free one-hour period to train your Ultimate. This is directly before lunch, in order to ensure that whoever’s handling the kitchen as a culinary Ultimate is able to make lunch for everyone.” Mr. Kirigiri began.

Class 88 silently nodded, and some people gave a thumbs-up.

“Now, as for lunch, that is part of a three-hour period in which you can eat lunch, train your Ultimate further, take a break, get some homework done, etc. You may do as you wish on campus during this time, but there are only two rules here. One, do not leave the campus. And two…”

“...please do not interact with the Reserve Course students. They will be busy at work, and I do not want them to be disturbed.”

There were now quite a few murmurs coming from the seventeen students seated at the front.

“What kind of work are they doing?” “Aren’t they on the same schedule as us?” “Are you treating them harsher than you’re treating us?”

“Please, please, everyone, calm down. The Reserve Course students are not on the same schedule as us, because they are not training Ultimates like you are. Instead, they are studying and will also be learning what careers will suit them best once they leave the Reserve Course. They’re actually really lucky, in my opinion.”

Now murmurs of confusion were coming from the entire audience.

“Please, everyone, calm down, there’s no need to be upset or confused. I find them lucky, because they have the ability to choose and find the career that’s best for them.” Mr. Kirigiri finally answered.

The audience stopped chatting amongst themselves.

“However, you all have talents that will likely determine what career you will have later in life, when you might have an interest in something unrelated to your talent. A prime example would be former student and musician Leon Kuwata, who was the Ultimate Baseball Star when he attended the academy.”

“As you know, he is now a famous musician. While we scouted him out for his talent with baseball, he expressed countless times that he would like to become a musician, despite his talent. And look where he is now—a famous musician under the company known as I.M. Entertainment, a company that was also created by an alumni of Hope’s Peak.”

“Actually, I myself would have had an Ultimate, if I had not forsaken it to become the headmaster of this academy. Ultimate Detective. After all, I came from the Kirigiri family, a family known for its detective work. I did not pursue that talent, and was able to choose where I’d end up: as your current headmaster of Hope’s Peak.”

The audience began to quiet down.

"There's also one more thing I forgot to mention. You all remember the hit TV show Danganronpa, right?"

Class 81 gave some sort of agreeing response, and the two upper classes cheered for themselves.

"As I'm sure you're all aware, during your second year here, we're going to record a season of Danganronpa with your class. Junko Enoshima and Mukuro Ikusaba, the creators of the company Team Danganronpa, will be coming back every year to record. Your class is not exempt from this, and you will also be participating in Danganronpa. Right now, they've managed to record 52 killing games. and now we're on our 53rd season of Danganronpa already. I also hear Mukuro has a twist this time that she'd like to incorporate into the 53rd season. Get ready, class 87. You're gonna need it."

The sixteen students at the back cheered.

Everyone gave a round of applause for class 86.

“But enough about that. I’d like it if we could get onto the festivities despite the state of the world right now. For our first act, may I introduce Kaede Akamatsu, Melody Rhythm, and Wild Card with their cover of Charlie Puth’s ‘See You Again!’” Mr. Kirigiri concluded.

He stepped away from the stage as the curtains opened. Kaede sat on a piano bench, in front of a digital piano. Ryosuke was right beside her with his drum kit, while Kanade, Akira, and Hakuto stood over to the side to be backup vocalists for the song.

Kaede started the song in F-Major with the somewhat melancholy, yet cheerful intro, and soon after, Denbe and Hibiki started singing in unison, their voices capturing the emotions embedded in the song perfectly.

* * *

**_It’s been a long day_ **

**_Without you my friend_ **

**_And I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again_ **

**_We’ve come a long way_ **

**_From where we began_ **

**_Oh, I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again_ **

**_When I see you again_ **

* * *

Hibiki started the verse. Her smooth voice, combined with the emotions she added, brought one specific feeling in the audience’s minds: the sorrowful longing you get when you miss someone.

* * *

**Why’d you have to leave so soon, yeah**

**Why’d you have to go**

**Why’d you have to leave me when I needed you the most**

* * *

Denbe continued for the second half of the verse. Due to the two vocalists’ differing voices in terms of timbre, tone, and pitch, they were able to portray a story of two friends separated and unable to see each other, yet still with stars in their eyes and the hope that they would meet again someday, despite that day being unknown.

* * *

_‘Cause I don’t really know how to tell ya_

_Without feeling much worse_

_I know you’re in a better place but it’s always gonna hurt_

* * *

The high note at the end of the verse was stuck in the audience’s minds as Denbe held out another note at the start of the pre-chorus without any difficulty.

* * *

_Carry on_

_Give me all the strength I need_

* * *

Hibiki finished the pre-chorus, her vocalization already starting to bring a few of the more emotional students to tears.

* * *

**To carry on…**

* * *

Ryosuke stopped playing his drums to allow Kaede’s piano-playing to shine along with Denbe and Hibiki’s vocals.

Denbe started the second chorus. His voice seemed to have a little more hope embedded in it, as if to insist that he was undoubtedly going to see that friend he’d hoped to see sometime soon. 

* * *

_It’s been a long day_

_Without you my friend_

_And I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again_

* * *

Hibiki all but matched Denbe as she finished the chorus.

* * *

**We’ve come a long way**

**From where we began**

**Oh, I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again**

**When I see you again**

* * *

This was when the backup vocalists came in. Despite being only three, they managed to pull off their part, adding an echo to the interlude between the chorus and the next verse. 

Ryosuke began drumming out his rhythm again, supporting the three backup vocalists and adding to their contribution. 

Some of the audience started to clap along at that point.

[Oh… oh…]

[Ooh…]

* * *

The clapping from the audience ceased as Denbe began the second verse. Somehow, his voice managed to bring chills to the audience, coinciding with the verse’s lyrics.

* * *

_How do I breathe without you_

_I’m feeling so cold_

* * *

Hibiki interrupted almost abruptly, taking the first half of the pre-chorus and adding a slight vibrato to the note she held out. Ryosuke’s drumming resumed as soon as the pre-chorus started, supporting the power Hibiki had in the note she belted.

* * *

**I’ll be waiting right here for you**

**‘Til the day you’re home**

**Carry on**

**give me all the strength I need**

* * *

Denbe matched her skill by adding extra vocalization to the last part of the prechorus.

* * *

_To carry on_

* * *

Ryosuke’s drumming abruptly slowed to a soft tapping of the beat as Kaede’s piano-playing grew louder.

Denbe started to sing the first part of the bridge, pure emotion conveying the hopes and wishes he had for his friend. The lyrics prior to it seemed to insinuate a closer relationship than just friends, and if this bridge said anything, it might have been safe to assume so.

* * *

_So let the light guide your way_

_Yeah_

* * *

Hibiki continued, as if answering with a wish of her own.

* * *

**Hold every memory as you go**

* * *

They finished the bridge together, as if their thoughts had converged and become the same thought.

* * *

**_And every road you take_ **

**_Will always lead you home_ **

**_Home_ **

* * *

There was a short period of silence before Denbe started again, his voice weak, as if voicing out his thoughts had tired him out and he was left to think one single thought.

* * *

_It’s been a long day_

_Without you my friend_

* * *

Hibiki mirrored this feeling Denbe had portrayed, keeping the narrative they had created going.

* * *

**And I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again**

* * *

Then Denbe continued, his voice growing stronger, as if that fire within him had suddenly rekindled.

* * *

_We’ve come a long way_

_From where we began_

* * *

Hibiki kept it going, the power in her voice conveying the same flame that burned within him.

* * *

**Oh I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again**

* * *

And Denbe finished the chorus, adding a few ad-libs in. Ryosuke’s drumming and the backup vocalists singing resumed again, which brought the crowd to cheer, and they started clapping along with the beat.

* * *

_When I see you again_

[Oh… oh…]

[Ooh…]

* * *

Hibiki finished the chorus, and it repeated again as Denbe’s vocals combined with the backup vocalists kept the power of the music going.

* * *

**When I see you again**

_See you again, yeah_

[Oh… oh...]

[Ooh…]

* * *

And then Hibiki finished the song, bringing it to a calm ending almost abruptly, as if reality had suddenly hit those two friends they’d portrayed in the song.

* * *

**When I see you again**

* * *

The vocal masterpiece that was the three-minute performance brought the audience to cheer and give them a standing ovation.

If this was just the starting performance, who knows how good this opening ceremony could get?

That was yet to be seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music: "See You Again" by Charlie Puth
> 
> Feedback is appreciated!


	7. Playing with Fire (And Please Don't Clown Around With Magic)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Watch out! We got a dose of clownery coming up, and we got a big source this time!
> 
> Also featuring said source's (totally not) functional significant other (that somehow is able to get them to calm down before their act, damn).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the absolutely late update. I've been writing during breaks in school if I don't have homework, but have never found the time to post, funnily enough.
> 
> But this time's gonna be different. I've got quite a few chapters written and I'm gonna do my best to keep on posting!

“Thank you, students, for that amazing performance! Let’s see if that grand beginning is befitting of an introduction next act! I introduce to you our stupendous mage Himiko Yumeno and our fantastic wizard Mikado Sannoji!” Mr. Kirigiri shouted. He was great at hyping up the audience.

On cue, Mikado and Himiko appeared in front of the curtains with a flash of light and a puff of smoke, respectively. The audience cheered.

“Greetings, everyone!” the two of them shouted in theatrical voices.

“I am… the amazing Himiko Yumeno!” Himiko shouted, as she twirled. Miraculously, doves seemed to appear from nowhere in particular (they were actually hiding in her cape). She kept on spinning, and soon enough, cards started to fly around her.

“And I am the great Mikado Sannoji!” Mikado added, animating his mask appropriately so it looked like it was talking. Puffs of dark, grey smoke came from his white gloves as he also twirled in the same manner as Himiko.

Those smoky puffs eventually turned into fire, and soon, Mikado was twirling inside a ring of fire. 

While most of the audience had already seen Mikado and Himiko in action, the seventeen other students of Class 88 that were sitting in the front of the audience had definitely not, so they were absolutely enthralled by them, reacting accordingly with oohs and aahs.

“Well, you know how this goes. You know, card tricks, bunny in a hat, and all that. So, despite that, who wants to go first? Anyone?” Himiko asked the audience. Everyone that already knew what Himiko was going to do played along, which consisted of the two upper classes.

Mikado stepped backstage as someone volunteered.

“I’d like to.”

A boy from class 88, with dark grey hair, an aquamarine jacket with a black shirt underneath, white jeans, and white-and-navy-blue boots raised his hand and headed up on stage.

“Wonderful! Would you please state your name, please?”

“Ah, of course. Michi. Michi Takeda.”

“Well, Michi, I’d like you to select a card and show it to the audience!” Himiko told him. “I’m not gonna look!”

“Alright, then.” he replied, and selected the ace of spades, thinking no one would have ever gone for a predictable card. He showed it to the audience.

“Have you chosen?” Himiko asked, uncovering her eyes.

“Yep,” Michi answered.

Himiko shuffled the deck for a minute, before grabbing a card. “Is this your card?”

It was the 7 of clubs.

“Nope.”

“Aw, man,” Himiko groaned, and tossed the card behind her back. Drawing the next card, she asked Michi again.

It was not. It was the jack of hearts. Himiko chucked it behind her.

One more time, she grabbed a card from the deck and showed it to him: a 10 of spades.

“Nope.”

“Come on…” she muttered. “Mikado? Help me out here.”

“Huh? What’s wrong, is there an issue, Himiko?” he asked, stepping back onstage again.

“I can’t seem to find the right card…” she groaned.

“Oh, I shall assist!” he suggested, and Himiko split the deck in half.

Together, they showed Michi two cards each, and ran through all of the cards. Yet, somehow, Michi’s card was not to be found at all, even after they’d exhausted the entire deck.

Everyone was confused.

This should not have been possible. If they’d already gone through the entire deck, how come the card wasn’t there?

“Mikado? Why haven’t we found Michi’s card yet?” Himiko questioned.

“I… don’t know myself. It should be here, but it… isn’t?” he confusedly replied.

Unbeknownst to the audience, the real trick was beginning. The cards started floating towards the backstage area, and started to form an entryway. Two columns of 20 cards created the two vertical sides, while the remaining 11 cards created the top of the threshold.

As if on cue, the cards set themselves ablaze, stunning the entire audience. Right after, Ryosuke walked through the fiery passage, holding one of his drumsticks. It was a miracle he didn’t catch on fire.

Soon after, the cards burned up into smoke.

“Guys? Has anyone seen my other drumstick?” he questioned the two of them.

“Huh? No, we haven’t. Didn’t you have them both earlier?” Mikado responded. “I’ve got a question myself, have you seen Michi’s card?”

“Why would I know what his card was? I’ve been backstage! As for the drumsticks question, I did have them both earlier, but now I can’t find one of them,” he groaned. 

“We can’t help you, then. Sorry,” Himiko answered.

“Ugh! Why do I have to be so forgetful?!” Ryosuke growled.

Angrily, he tossed his drumstick into the air. If this were meant to be done in a comical manner, it would have hit him on the head on its way down, which would have made him even angrier.

But all of a sudden, his expression changed to a calm visage. Meanwhile, his drumstick had hit the ceiling, and when it came down…

…it was a card. The ace of spades. 

Ryosuke caught it in between his pointer and middle finger, presenting it to Michi gracefully.

“Well, I can’t seem to find my drumsticks, like usual, but at least I found your card. The ace of spades, right?” he asked Michi, who was absolutely stunned at the transformation.

“I… how… wha? Yes, that’s it!” he exclaimed.

The audience cheered at the first trick. Himiko and Mikado grinned and took a bow with Ryosuke, who then headed backstage.

“That’s not all we’ve got for you, so stay tuned!” Himiko shouted.

“Yes, I agree! There’s more in store, everyone!” Mikado added.

  
  
  


Backstage, everyone else was chatting amongst themselves in shock and delighted surprise.

“Ryo, that was amazing! I actually thought you lost your drumsticks again, and was really about to worry, since you interrupted Himiko and Mikado!” Hakuto exclaimed.

“How’d you pull off the trick?” Kanade asked.

“Oh, that was simple. Mikado helped with that one. He hid the drumstick that I threw on the second tier of the auditorium, and made the card float down. He also created the fire-card passageway.”

“Damn. That was really cool, not gonna lie,” Hibiki commented.

“But did you actually lose your drumsticks?” Hakuto asked.

“Heh, nah. My drumsticks are actually just sitting by my drum kit, right…” Ryosuke trailed off.

Denbe’s face suddenly paled, and Hakuto noticeably started sweating.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, don’t tell me-” Akira groaned, but was interrupted.

“Ha! I was joking, chill. They’re right here. That was one of the school’s drumsticks, and Mikado’s made sure it’s safe,” Ryosuke assured them.

“That better be true.”

In response, Ryosuke raised both of his drumsticks up, showing that they were still with him.

“That’s a relief,” Hakuto sighed.

“Heh,” Ryosuke chuckled, as another roar of applause suddenly reached backstage.

“Damn, they’re killing it out there,” Kaede commented.

“So did we. Good job, everyone!” Kanade told the group.

“There’s still more to come, though,” Akira reminded everyone. Next up is ‘It’s a New Day.’”

“Gotcha. Right after Satsuki’s act, right?” Denbe asked, trying to make sure he didn’t get it wrong. 

“You bet. Be ready, everyone!” Hibiki told the group.

“KYAAAH!” 

“Huh?!” Hibiki suddenly shouted in confusion.

Satsuki ran in, a panicked expression on her face and crying.

“SATSUKI’S NOT GONNA BE READY!” she shrieked in a dramatic manner. “SATSUKI STILL DOESN’T FEEL SECURE IN HER ACTS! IMMA GONNA MESS UP, I’M GONNA DROP ONE OF MY PLATES OR SPILL SOMETHING, AND THEY’RE GOING TO SAY, ‘THIS BITCH SUCKS!’ SATSUKI KNOWS THEY WILL, SATSUKI CAN READ MINDS, AND-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Kaede shouted. “Take a deep breath.”

Shakily, Satsuki took a deep breath, then pulled a tissue out of her pocket and blew her nose, which made a slight honk that got Kanade to giggle a little.

“I think you’ll be fine!” Hibiki told her. “I kinda giggled a bit there, so maybe you can make them laugh! And the best thing about being a clown is that no matter what you do, it’s gonna look like part of the act! Except dying, of course. Dying’s not allowed when you’re trying to add to a LIVE-ly atmosphere, right?”

“Pfft, ha-ha! You’re right! Satsuki’s gonna be a-okay!” Satsuki snorted. “Thank you! I know I can do this! It’s as easy as doing a cartwhee-AAH!”

Satsuki had done a cartwheel towards the curtain, but accidentally messed up along the way, screamed, and tumbled out onstage. A loud cry of pain was heard all of a sudden.

“Oh, no!” Hakuto shouted. He cracked the curtain open a tiny bit.

“Ow…” Mikado groaned. Satsuki had crashed into him, and now they were unluckily tangled together. 

“Oops. Sorry… hehe…” she chuckled, as she carefully untangled herself and walked backstage again.

“Well, that was a mistake, but that’s not gonna keep me down! I can do this!” Satsuki told herself out loud. “Even if I did cause a bit of trouble, that’s what I do anyway!”

“Okay, not gonna lie, that sort of optimism is a bit concerning to me considering Mikado was doing his fire magic, but I’m still chill with that,” Denbe admitted.

“True. Probably could’ve gotten burnt there. But, hey, at least I didn’t, right?” Satsuki chuckled.

“I mean, yeah,” Akira admitted. “Okay, you know what, let’s just not focus on that and focus on how well you’re going to do because we know you’re going to do well, and if Haruhiko were here, he’d probably agree.”

“Hi, this is Haruhiko Kobashikawa, and I approve this message.”

“Huh?” Satsuki confusedly said. “Someone here an ultimate impressionist? I think I just-”

“Not me.”

“Not me.”

“Not me.”

“Not me.”

“Not me.”

“Not me.”

“Not me.”

“Then…” Satsuki suddenly came to a conclusion just as the unknown person called her name.

“Satsuki?”

“HARU?!”

Much to her joy, the blonde-haired pilot stuck his head around the corner.

“YOU’RE HERE?!” she exclaimed joyfully.

“Of course I’d be here! I wouldn’t miss school! But seriously, what the heck was that flight? Jeez, it was such a pain in my ass... why did I do that?”

“What about me, Haru…?!” Satsuki whined, in a comically upset tone. “But seriously, you decided to squeeze in one more flight prior to actually going to school. That's absolutely daring of you, though I think you should probably not try to do that during one of the most important days of the year..."

“Yeah, sorry about that, babe, love you.” Haruhiko apologized, chuckling. “And anyway, it’s always best to get some more practice in! Cause of course, I can skip school, just like all of you guys, but I don’t wanna just miss the opening ceremony, of all things, especially when you're gonna be performi-"

Haruhiko was promptly interrupted by Satsuki giving him a peck on the cheek, to which he immediately turned red to.

"I- Satsuki, there are kids here!"

"They're old enough to know this sort of stuff."

"No PDA, though, right?"

"Oh. Yeah... right. That."

"While I'd like a public kiss any other time, I don't want a kiss in public now, not during this pandemic, sorry."

“Heh, that’s alright. You guys promise to forget about it?” Satsuki asked the group.

“You bet!” Akira responded.

“Oh, I’m gonna make sure you guys forget about it! Kame-hame-forget about it!” Haruhiko joked.

“You’re over 9000!” Satsuki fired back.

The two of them burst into laughter, bringing everyone else to do the same.

“But, uh, I am a bit nervous, imma admit. Not as nervous, though, now that you’re here! So, uh, thank you!” Satsuki breathed a sigh of relief.

“Heh, you’re welcome!" Haruhiko waved it off, basically saying, "It was nothing."

And as if on cue, Mr. Kirigiri began to speak.

"Now, I think it’s about time for you to get started, so come on. You can do this!” Haruhiko hyped up Satsuki.

“You bet I can! Whoo-hoo!” Satsuki whooped, as she did a cartwheel towards the curtain.

And this time, she didn’t mess up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is appreciated!


	8. The Final Performance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the final performance of the opening ceremony, Wild Card performs their hit song, "Hearts Out Front."
> 
> Hearts Out Front, their most popular song by far, was written and released in January of 2020, and has an overall message of spreading hope and love and to give it your best shot in dire times.
> 
> It charted to #21 on Billboard, and over 700,000 copies of their album were sold during their promotional period.
> 
> Please listen to and support them! Us Jokers are counting on you!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you couldn't tell, "Hearts Out Front" is actually a song that I wrote myself. It probably sucks, but honestly, I really couldn't care less. Anyway, this chapter will be the last of the opening ceremony, meaning we can finally move on to introducing the actual characters now in the next chapter!
> 
> Whoo!

And now, it was Wild Card’s time to shine.

They’d finally made it to the end of the ceremony, and there were quite a few acts and performances, a lot of which had caught their eyes!

Kiibo did a skit with Miu and Mitsuo about pretending to be human. His actions were robotically exaggerated, in order to give off comedic appeal.

At the end, he revealed his true nature, and the two of them hugged the robot, the sudden heartfelt gesture turning his face a hot-red, much to the point where steam started to billow from his ears.

That got a few people to cackle with laughter, without fail.

Rantaro then gave a quick speech about how Hope’s Peak had a few different trips planned for different places… though, there were QUITE a few issues, considering the pandemic.

He gave quick descriptions of each place, and focused on the most important parts of the trips, including travel, place to stay, travel destinations whilst in the city, and whatnot.

After that, Mr. Kirigiri had a special video to show all the incoming students—a heartfelt video message from the class that graduated last year, class 85.

There were so many kind comments from them, and Hakuto wasn’t exactly sure how to handle them… but then again, neither did any of the other students, as some were seen crying simply from the video itself. All the students of class 88 were touched at the effort in the video.

And then, the grand finale, featuring them, to close off the ceremony.

Backstage, everyone was getting ready for this moment. Hakuto was tuning his electric guitar, Akira was impatiently tapping her foot, Ryosuke was pacing around, and Denbe was sitting down on the floor.

“...it’s almost time, everyone! We got this,” Hakuto told everyone, his hands still tinkering with his guitar.

“You bet! Though, my hands feel a bit clammy…” Ryosuke mentioned.

“Alright, alright, just gotta relax here. That’s all we gotta do,” Akira calmed Ryosuke down, urging him to take a few breaths.

While they were doing that, Denbe was simply staring at Hakuto in a dazed manner.

“...hm? Is something wrong, Denbe?”

“Wha? Oh, no, nothing’s wrong, I’m just kinda… zoning out. Right before our final performance, of all things… heh.”

“...Denbe, is something wrong?”

“Can you really tell? Damn, I figured. It’s just that…”  
  
Denbe let out a sigh, and pushed himself up, dusting the debris from his pants from where he had just sat on the floor earlier.

“I’m absolutely terrified. And I don’t know why, either. I just… feel weird. There’s this weird feeling in my stomach that I can’t stomach, pun not intended, and I’m kind of… nervous, to say the least… ack, redundancy sucks.”

  
“Honestly, it’s the same here. Need water before we head off? I took a bottle earlier.”

“That’d be nice, thanks.”

While Hakuto rushed to the back to grab a water bottle for Denbe, Ryosuke was now dancing in place while Akira was simply humming.

“Here, catch!” Hakuto shouted, as he threw the water bottle to Denbe, who caught it in his hands.

“Thanks, Hakuto.”

“No problem! I’ve gotta make sure you guys are alright!”

“...hey, you know what’s funny?”

“What?”

“Generally, all the stereotypes we’ve been through say that the vocalist is meant to be the leader of the band, while everyone else is just there as backup for him. But we’re… different, in a way… at least, I think.”

“Huh. I actually never thought about it like tha-”

“And here’s the last thing you’ve been waiting for, everyone! The last event to end 2020’s opening ceremony!”

Mr. Kirigiri was getting ready to introduce the band. It was now or never to get the last few words in before they had to go.

“Oh, shit, it’s already time. Let’s go. You’ll rock this, Denbe. I know you will.”

“Thanks.”

  
“ALRIGHT, EVERYONE, LET’S ASSEMBLE!” Hakuto yelled, and Akira and Ryosuke headed to Hakuto and Denbe, and they assembled a circle.

“Alright, everyone, we did well for ‘See You Again,’ so I believe we can do the same here. We all know what we gotta do, and we know that we can all do it well, right?”

“YEP!” everyone else responded.

“Then I think we’re ready. Jack!”

Hakuto put his hand in the middle of the circle.

“Queen!”

Akira joined in, putting her hand on top of Hakuto’s.

“King!”

Denbe added to the stack, yelling his codename.

“Ace!”

Ryosuke completed the quartet, and with that, they shouted their famous quote.

“We’re going all in, and we’re rocking the place!”

The four of them let out a whoop as they raised their hands up high.

“...may I please introduce, to close this opening ceremony… Wild Card!” Mr. Kirigiri shouted.

“LET’S GO!” Ryosuke cheered.

The four musicians walked out on stage to loud applause from the audience, their instruments already set up.

They all took their places while the crowd went silent. Everyone took a moment to check their equipment, and when they were all done, Hakuto signaled to Ryosuke to start.

Four taps of Ryosuke’s drumsticks set the tempo for the song, and with that, it began.

Akira artfully played the opening melody on her keyboard, her fingers running over it with precision, and a small bit of artistic flair. The soft melody conveyed a happy mood, but there were hints of regret and sadness in the background, weighing down on it. Overall, the piece sounded hopeful, and yet not at all.

  
  


With that to set the mood, Denbe began to sing, with a dreadfully bleak and quiet tone at first to match with Akira’s music.

* * *

_They say that it’s impossible_

_for miracles to happen_

_They say that you can’t_

_just keep on standing_

_The world keeps crumbling_

_The sun stops shining_

_They say you can’t keep going_

_and everyone is crying_

* * *

Then Hakuto sung right after. While he wasn’t as skilled as Denbe vocally, he could still sing well—this moment showed that clearly, if anything, as he matched Denbe in terms of the mood that needed to be conveyed. His somewhat deeper voice was a nicer contrast to the lighter vocal timbre that Denbe had.

Oddly enough, there was no guitar yet, but that was coming up.

* * *

Lives on the line 

and no one takes an action 

When all it takes for change 

is a single chain reaction 

You can be the catalyst 

to set things in motion 

They say a single match 

It can cause an explosion 

* * *

At the exact moment he ended the verse, Hakuto played a strong chord on his guitar, which rang across the auditorium and boosted the song, making the melody more positive. He added adlibs as Denbe sang the post-chorus, changing the chords according to the music.

While the mood of the music changed, so did Denbe’s singing—now the way he sung had a hopeful undertone, though the hopefulness in his voice grew with every word, eventually overtaking the sadness and shining through. His voice started to grow louder.

* * *

(Yeah) 

_I believe in the future_

(Yeah) 

_I don’t know what it holds_

(Though) 

_I didn’t come to lose it all now_

(Yeah) 

_I’m not doing what I’m told_

* * *

Denbe continued on, singing the chorus of the song, with a brighter, and more hopeful mood.

* * *

_We’ve got our hearts out front_

_and we’re givin’ it all_

_We got our hearts out front_

_and we’re standing tall_

_Cause when the love comes in_

_and the walls come down_

_We’ll give a great big cheer_

_and we’ll shake the ground_

_With our hearts out front_

_We’ll keep on going_

_The road leads ahead_

_Where it goes? No knowing_

_But we gotta stay strong_

_Gotta answer the call_

_Cause with our hearts out front_

_We’ll end it all_

* * *

And Ryosuke finally started to play his drums, adding a beat to the song, before it all abruptly stopped as the second verse began.

This time, it was Akira’s turn to sing. Her voice was smooth, and her voice conveyed a much brighter mood than before, despite the nature of her verse. At the end of it, she changed up the notes of the song, which got everyone to cheer.

* * *

**They ridicule others**

**for their own amusement**

**The people are sobbing**

**they’re lost and in confusion**

**The people are trapped**

**In despair and darkness**

**All we gotta do**

**Gotta lead with our hearts now**

* * *

  
  


While that all happened, Denbe sung the next prechorus, with Akira adding the adlibs in this time. Ryosuke and Hakuto added in their respective instruments, adding the same beat and chords in to work with the song.

* * *

**(Yeah)**

_We’ll save the desperate lost souls_

**(Yeah)**

_We didn’t come here to give up now_

**(Yeah)**

_For the sake of the world_

**(Yeah)**

_We’re gonna shout it out loud_

* * *

  
  


With a crash of the cymbal, Denbe proceeded to the chorus again, his voice growing stronger with every measure.

* * *

  
  


_With our hearts out front_

_We gotta give it our all_

_We’ll have our hearts out front_

_and we’ll all stand tall_

_Cause when the love comes in_

_and the walls come down_

_We’ll give a great big cheer_

_and we’ll shake the ground_

_With our hearts out front_

_We’ll keep on going_

_The road leads ahead_

_Where it goes? No knowing_

_But we gotta stay strong_

_Gotta answer our call_

_Cause with our hearts out front_

_We’ll end it all_

* * *

  
  


All of a sudden, the music changed significantly. Akira and Hakuto played differently as the music proceeded to the bridge, and there was a notable escalation as the song started to build up.

It was getting more and more hopeful, and the music started to get louder in volume, as Ryosuke took over with singing for the bridge, singing loud and strong as he drummed out a steady rhythm.

  
  


* * *

~~The people are so pessimistic~~

~~The people say we’re egotistic~~

~~But as they say when push comes to shove~~

~~We gotta show them how to be optimistic~~

~~Are you on humanity’s side~~

~~Are you going to start the fire~~

~~Just a single action, causes a chain reaction~~

~~And it has the power to inspire~~

* * *

  
  


Finally, Denbe led the song to its climax in one long, belted note, even vocalizing as well, giving the song a burst of joy and energy as it entered the final chorus. While he did that, Akira, Ryosuke, and Hakuto filled in for him and sung, still playing their instruments perfectly while doing so.

The entire thing got the audience to cheer.

* * *

_(Yeah~)_

~~ **We’ve got our hearts out front** ~~

~~ **and we’re givin’ it all** ~~

~~ **Got our hearts out front** ~~

~~**and we’re standing tall** ~~ _(ooh)_

~~ **Cause when the love comes in** ~~

~~**and the walls come down** _(yeah)_ ~~

~~ **We’ll give a great big cheer** ~~

~~**and we’ll shake the ground**~~ _(yeah)_

* * *

Now Denbe joined in, and all four of them sang together to finish this part of the chorus.

* * *

~~ **_With our hearts out front_ ** ~~

~~ **_We’ll keep on going_ ** ~~

~~ **_The road leads ahead_ ** ~~

~~ **_Where it goes? No knowing_ ** ~~

~~ **_But we gotta stay strong_ ** ~~

~~ **_Gotta answer the call_ ** ~~

~~ **_Cause with our hearts out front_ ** ~~

~~ **_We’ll end it all_ ** ~~

* * *

Ryosuke shouted through his microphone to the audience, yelling, “COME ON AND SING WITH US, EVERYONE! WHEN I RAISE MY HANDS, STOP SINGING!”

Denbe prompted the audience to start singing with him and clap their hands, repeating the final words of the chorus as they clapped along to the beat.

* * *

_We’ll end it all_

_We’ll end it all_

_We’ll end it all_

* * *

“KEEP GOING!” Ryosuke yelled again, as they went back to singing the second half of the chorus. The audience did as they were told, which enhanced the song and finally completed it, bringing a sense of togetherness and unity along with the message of hope that their song contained.

* * *

(We’ll end it all) ~~ **_With our hearts out front_ ** ~~

~~ **_We’ll keep on going_ ** ~~

(We’ll end it all) ~~ **_The road leads ahead_ ** ~~

~~ **_Where it goes? No knowing_ ** ~~

(We’ll end it all) ~~ **_But we gotta stay strong_ ** ~~

~~ **_Gotta answer the call_ ** ~~

(We’ll end it all) ~~ **_Cause with our hearts out front_ ** ~~

  
  


* * *

Ryosuke performed a drumroll as the song was about to close, and just as the final measure was about to end, he raised his drumsticks, and the audience stopped, along with the instrumental.

This allowed Denbe to complete the song with a moment of silence, except for his raw vocals, drawing the song to a satisfying close.

* * *

_We’ll end it all_

* * *

And with that, the song was complete, and the audience gave another standing ovation, with whoops, cheers and loud clapping for Wild Card and their stunning performance.

The four of them moved from where they had been positioned and headed to the front of the stage to take their final bow all together.

  
  
  


And suddenly, a surprise occurred, which no one was aware about… except for maybe one person.

Through the use of his magic, Mikado made confetti shoot from the stage, to truly complete the ceremony. Everyone cheered as it flew around and surrounded them.

But no one was happier than the four musicians standing at the front of the stage.

As the colorful confetti flew down around them, they took their final bow all together, hand-in-hand.

The opening ceremony of Hope’s Peak Academy was finally over.

  
  
  
  
  
  


Well, except for the closing speech.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is very much appreciated!


	9. The Day's Taking Off (Quite Literally, Elevators Are Nice)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The embodiment of an elevator cutscene!
> 
> Also, the 22 students are finally about to head to their classroom! Once they retrieve their e-Handbooks, the ceremony ends, and the school day begins!

Finally, it was the moment everyone had been waiting for. The final performance was done, and now the opening ceremony was coming to a close.

“Everyone… thank you for coming. You all know that it means a lot to our incoming students. I just want to say that as the current headmaster of Hope’s Peak Academy, I’ll do my best to make sure that you all get the best you need. I mean it when I say that.”

“Do we have any questions before I close the ceremony?”  
  


The entire auditorium was silent, oddly enough. Mr. Kirigiri shrugged and continued.

“Well, then, if that’s the case, then I suppose we can now close off the ceremony. Kaede, may I have some music, please?”

Kaede played a song that seemed fitting for the ending of a ceremony. It was formal, but still maintained bright vibes to it.

“Alright, everyone. When I say your names, you will stand up and head to the left side of the stage. You will then head up here and take the e-Handbook that I give you. This will be yours for the three years you stay at this school, so take care of it!”

And one by one, Mr. Kirigiri started to call names.

“Akira Hayashi,

Hachiro Hirano,

Mitsuo Iruma,

Hana Kinoshita,

Arrin Koruda,

Keiko Matsuo,

Ryosuke Murakami,

Mitsuko Okamoto,

Yuki Sakai,

Sumi Sasaki,

Denbe Shiba,

Zenjin Shimizu,

Hakuto Shin,

Daigo Sugimoto,

Kara Takahashi,

Aika Takeda,

Michi Takeda,

Daisuke Uchida,

Seiichi Ueno,

Jiro Watanabe,

Shane Wonder,

and Sashihara Yamaguchi.”

  
  


One by one, all 22 of the students of class 88 walked up on stage to take their respective e-Handbooks, and returned to their seats.

Well, except for Denbe, Hakuto, Akira, and Ryosuke, who were standing right nearby to watch as Kaede performed.

As they did that, Mr. Kirigiri finished what he needed to say.

“Alright, everyone. With that, you are dismissed. The rows at the back leave first, and then once the row behind you is clear, your row may go.”

While they were doing that, Kaede had finished her piece by then, and the five of them headed backstage.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE IT, WE’RE FINALLY, WE’RE OFFICIALLY HOPE’S PEAK STUDENTS, I’M ABSOLUTELY EXCITED-”

“Whoa, whoa, Ryosuke, relax, calm down,” Hakuto told him.

“Oh, right, sorry. Just… uh… excuse me for that.”

“It was the same for me, Ryosuke! I was honestly really excited to be in such a marvelous academy when I first got in. You wanna get some advice from me?” Kaede offered.

“Do tell!” Hakuto responded, and everyone else nodded.

“Alright, then! For one, everyone here may be an Ultimate, but it’s NOT at all going to be a competitive school like everyone says it is. It’s more of just everyone is able to explore their own interests and deepen their knowledge in their Ultimate.

Two, your class is going to become a family to you. I’m honestly envious that you four have a family of 22 rather than 16, and I wish that could have happened to me when I attended Hope’s Peak.

Three, trust in them! They may all have their faults, sure, but their faults don’t define them as people. I promise you, Hope’s Peak has never admitted someone without good reason to, and one of the reasons is that they can cooperate and interact with people in a comfortable and safe manner.

Four… uh, please just don’t cause too much chaos. I know it’s not that easy to cause a destructive amount of chaos, but I personally have seen some shit during my time at Hope’s Peak, so just please be careful, too.

Anything else… oh, right!

Among all else, just be yourself here. The reason you got in may be for some other reason, but rest assured, people will accept you here. No matter what. I mean, we’re reputable enough to have most, if not all of our students in every class be a part of the LGBTQ+ community, and the staff also do a lot to make sure you feel comfortable here. I think that’s all I have to say.”

“Well, if that’s all you have to say, then thank you!” Akira thanked Kaede.

“This… was honestly a lot of fun. Thank you for the fun times, miss Kaede Akamatsu,” Denbe said, as he gracefully bowed.

“Well, the pleasure is all mine,” Kaede responded, curtsying. “I should be off now, actually. I’ll see you sometime, Wild Card!”

“Farewell, Kaede!” Ryosuke shouted.

At that point, everyone had already filed out of the auditorium.

  
  


“Oh, no! We’re going to get lost!” Denbe panicked.

“We have our e-Handbooks, Denbe. There’s no need to worry.”

“Oh, right, Hakuto. Of course I forget about those…” Denbe groaned.

“...I’m pretty sure the classes are on… what, the fifth floor?” Akira suggested.

“...oh, boy…” Ryosuke sighed. “This is going to be a long trip, isn’t it?”

“HEY!”

The four of them turned around to see a boy with dark blue hair and black glasses waving at them.

“Are you coming? We’re about to board the elevator!” he told them.  
  
“...elevator?” Denbe repeated, unsure about what he was hearing.

“Yeah! They added it this year for convenience!” he responded.

“Nice! That solves our problem. Let’s go, everyone!” Akira told the group.

“One more team chant before we go?” Ryosuke asked.

“Well, why not?” Denbe agreed.

“Alright!" Hakuto shouted, as he quickly cleared his throat before starting.

"Jack!”

**“Queen!”**

_“King!”_

~~“Ace!”~~

  
  
  


“WE’RE GOING ALL IN, AND WE’RE ROCKING THIS PLACE!”

With a whoop, the four of them raised their right hands to the sky, and then they broke up to head off the stage, rushing towards the elevator, the boy leading them there.

They all found it, and they rushed over quickly. Thankfully, everyone else was already waiting there.

“There you are…” a girl mentioned. “I was wondering what happened to you four!”

“Well, what are we waiting for? Get in, you guys! Mr. Kirigiri said he wouldn’t allow everyone to go up unless we were all in the elevator first, so hurry up!” another boy added.

Mr. Kirigiri allowed the 22 of them to head on this time. The doors opened, revealing a fancy elevator.

“Whoa, sweet! Let’s go!” another girl cheered.  
  
Everyone stepped onto the elevator.

The doors closed, and someone pushed the button for the fifth floor.

One ding, and the elevator was headed up.

Soon enough, the school day would begin!

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is appreciated!


	10. Introductions of Class 88 [1/2]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 13 of the 22 students will be making their introductions! Let's get to know them as they go along!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! Between finally exploring the world of digital art and celebrating Christmas and the New Year, I think I can say for certain I've been pretty productive regarding all this!
> 
> But apologies once again for not being productive here. Thankfully, I've got your next chapter, and due to the fact that we're going to need the other 9 ultimates to make their introduction, the accompanying chapter should be out quicker!
> 
> Have fun getting introduced to the ultimates! I'll figure out a way to get you all introduced to them with illustrations later, but for now, enjoy!
> 
> Ah, and I forgot! I... have written one character in that uses neopronouns. I hope that the way I utilize them works and is correct! Please inform me if I've made any mistakes regarding grammar and whatnot.
> 
> Now, back to Class 88!

The elevator reached its destination, and the students left the lift.

Thankfully, their classroom was right nearby, and the door had a sign on it: “88th Class.”

Denbe opened the door, and everyone stepped in.

As everyone was filing in, an announcement came over the loudspeaker.

“Attention, students. You will have a 60-minute period to interact before your teachers will arrive to introduce themselves. Please use this time well.”

The loudspeaker went quiet, and the students decided to talk.

  
  
  


Denbe decided to introduce himself to a few people. Thankfully, the group seemed to be quite cooperative and… handled themselves well around celebrities, not freaking out.

  
  
  


“Greetings! I’m Denbe Shiba, the ultimate vocalist! Who might you be?” he asked the person in front of him, extending a black-gloved hand.

The person turned around and gave him a smile, as his golden-yellow eyes seemed to flash at him. His short hair was a deep shade of green, similar to that of leaves. He wore a green vest and a black tank top. Four bracelets were on each of his arms, one green and one black bracelet per arm.

He wore a black belt around his waist to hold up his khaki pants, which were rolled up to below his knees. Below that, he wore black boots.

He raised a similar black-gloved hand to wave at him, giving a bright smile.

“Oh, hey! I didn’t see you there! The name’s Daisuke Uchida. I’m the ultimate gardener! It’s nice to meet you!” he greeted Denbe.

“Oh, hello! Do you want to tell me a bit about yourself?”

“Well, sure! I like to take long walks in the park if I’m not busy, and I love the beach and the color white! Though… personally, I don’t like rodents, because… you know… gardening. Yeah.”

“That explains the tan. That’s cool! Personally, I love to sing, dance, the color black, not because I’m an emo, but because I think it’s cool. As well as that, I like going to the mall with my friends and performing in concerts!”

“Yeah, we know you! I think basically everyone in the group does! You four are really famous already. Midori Kuroba High, huh?” someone interjected.

The two of them looked at the person that had just interrupted them.

“Oh, did I interrupt? Sorry!” she chuckled. “I guess I can be a bit aggressive sometimes.”

“It’s alright! Go ahead!”

The girl wore a set of black rectangular goggles on her face that slightly concealed her sky-blue eyes, and she had straight, long blonde hair that reached down to her waist.

She wore a dark grey, short-sleeved jacket, with a similar short-sleeved shirt underneath, its only difference being that it was a slightly lighter shade of grey.  
  
Similar grey gloves were on her hands.  
  
A pink utility belt was on her waist, equipped with a few tools.  
  
She wore red sweatpants, and had yellow-and-black boots on. Though, even with the boots, she was slightly shorter than the other two, but not by much.

“Alright, then, listen up! I’m Keiko Matsuo, the ultimate electrician! Personally, wiring’s a cinch to me, so leave the electrical issues to me! But other than that, personally I like to dance, and I love fast food. It’s a quick pick-me-up for me! I personally don’t like lightning, though. Funny, generally people are scared of thunder. But I just don’t want to get electrocuted, given that I know how bad that shit can hurt.”

“Do you require assistance, then? I could simply control the weather for your convenience, if you ever desired,” someone interrupted, with a deep voice.

“...wait, what?” Keiko sputtered, flabbergasted.

“...behind you,” the voice whispered devilishly.

Keiko let out a yelp as she turned around, shocking the other two boys along with her and causing them to yell.

A tall figure with jet-black hair stood in front of them. It covered their face, only allowing a jet-black eye to be visible.

It ominously stared at them.

Despite the sunlight streaming in through the windows and facing them, they still managed to appear shadowy. They wore a purple button-up, long-sleeved shirt with white buttons, along with black pants and black-and-yellow patterned boots. They also had a shiny gold necklace with a star on it.

Along with that, a cape wrapped around their neck.

“Yuki Sakai. That is the denomination that I go by. Now… were you three surprised at my entrance? I suppose that is normal. A demonstration of my powers always seems to scare humans.”

“...wha… who are you?” Daisuke asked, scared.

“I am the ultimate occultist. Do fear for your lives while I am around!” Yuki yelled, startling everyone in the classroom.

Everyone was silent for a minute, before Yuki started to chuckle awkwardly, breaking his character.

“...okay, but seriously, I’m the ultimate occultist. Only reason that I dressed like this is because I had to wear something related to my talent today,” Yuki sighed, with a slightly pitchier voice than the one he had earlier. “Sorry about the scare.”

“Oh, alright! Not serious about changing the weather, then?” Keiko asked.  
  


“Nope. I don’t have that power. I simply study the occult is all!”

“Oh, cool! Though, those powers would be really cool to show friends, you know!” Denbe commented.

“Heh. I wish. I haven’t had friends since I was… what, eight? Because I studied the occult for such a long time, uninterrupted. My parents said that it would distract me, and so I obeyed.”

“Oh.”  
  
“And now I’m really into the occult. Though, I do wish I didn’t center my life around it! I wish I could interact with people more often. So I guess I’d like to be more sociable! And please, don’t think I’m suddenly obsessed over the occult and have an evil personality. I’m chill in reality… so just don’t freak out, alright?” Yuki chuckled, as he brushed back the hair that was covering the left side of his face.

This revealed a bright yellow eye, which seemed to shine, in contrast with Yuki’s shadowy personality and his black right eye.

“Whoa, you have heterochromia?” Denbe asked.

“I like to call it more of just a magic lens, but yeah!” Yuki answered.

“...hm… you too, huh?” someone else inquired.

“...yes… who’s that, again?”

“Over here.”

Yuki turned to look at the source of the voice, and found the person, sitting on the teacher’s desk, their legs hanging off the edge. A blue laptop was in their hands as they dutifully worked on something, though Yuki couldn’t tell what exactly.

They had silver hair that covered their face, only allowing their right eye, which was the same color as their hair, to be visible.

They wore a cyan jacket, with a black shirt underneath, as well as white ripped jeans and short, white heeled boots.

“Well, it’s the same for me too, if you couldn’t tell, Yuki,” they immediately began. “Oh, and Michi Takeda.”

“Oh, right, you’re Michi Takeda, the boy that participated in the magic show!” Yuki suddenly realized, and Michi gave a smile.

“...yep, that would be me,” he chuckled, and swept away the hair that covered his left eye, revealing it to be bright green, the same as that of stereotypical lines of code.

“I’m the ultimate hacker, though don’t expect me to hack into the school systems. My sister would probably kill me if I did that and fix them… ah, speaking of which. Sis, you there?”

“I gotcha. Right at the door.”

Everyone turned to look at the door of the classroom, and two pink eyes stared back at them.

The girl that was presumably Michi’s sister had brown hair tied into a high ponytail. She wore a pink sweater with white cuffs, and she had black pants and white sneakers. She held a burgundy-red cellphone in her hand.

“Perfect. Introduce yourself?”

“No problem, Michi. Aika Takeda’s the name,” she responded, giving a smile and a wave. “I’m Michi’s twin sister, and the ultimate programmer.”

“So now we have another set of twins in the school! Whoo!” someone whooped, calling attention to themselves in the process.

Everyone turned to look at them, and unfortunately, they were right in the center of the classroom.

They started to sweat, their brown eyes darting around the classroom.

“Whoa, whoa, relax, it’s alright. You okay?” Keiko asked.

“Uh… yeah… heh,” they responded.

They had long brown hair tied up into a high ponytail, similar to that of Aika’s. However, they had a white streak of hair. They wore white-and-red headphones on their head, as well as some black sunglasses. They had a white jacket, with the hem being red. They wore black jeans and red high-top sneakers. On their hands were four bracelets. The two on their left arm were yellow and white, and the two on their left were purple and black.

“Uh… I guess I gotta introduce myself, huh? Shit…” they cursed.

“Well, uh… the name’s… Zenjin Shimizu. Yeah. Ultimate DJ for you.”

“Cool. You seem like a pretty nice guy,” Aika commented.

  
“He does seem alright, I guess,” Michi agreed.

“...erm… how to say this…” Zenjin began.

“Hm?” Daisuke hummed.

“...this’ll be unorthodox… I guess… but I should also probably mention that I’m nonbinary. You can call me Mx. Shimizu, if you want, and my pronouns are xe/xem,” xe chuckled, awkwardly.

“...is… is that a fucking pun?” Denbe asked, shocked but in a comical manner.

“Ha-ha, yeah!” Zenjin cheered. “Finally, someone that gets it!”

“Ah, fuck, speaking of which, I should have asked for pronouns earlier, sorry. Anyone’s pronouns I get wrong?” Denbe asked the group.

“Nope.” said Daisuke.  
  


“No.” said Keiko.

“I actually use he/they, thank you for asking!” Yuki replied.  
  


“It’s… the same for me, she/they, please,” Aika responded.

“Cisgender, he/him,” Michi added.

“Glad we have that resolved. In the meantime, Zenjin-” Keiko started.

“Y-Yeah?” Zenjin immediately asked, unsure.

  
  
“Whoa, calm down. I don’t mean this to be rude, but if you’re just gonna be nonbinary for the gender-neutral honorific and pun-” Keiko began, but Zenjin was quick to respond.

“Oh, no, no, no, it’s nothing like that! Itwasmoreofjustacoincidentaloccurrenceyouknow! Idon’tmeananyharmlikethat! I’mjustkindofjokingaroundpleasedon’thateme-” Zenjin panicked, the words coming out faster than xe could comprehend and at the edge of hyperventilation.

“Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Just… breathe, breathe, breathe…” two boys stepped in, walking towards xem. Denbe recognized one as the boy with the blue hair that had led them to the elevator earlier.

“Alright, can you please try to relax, please? Just breathe. I know it’s a bit stressful right now, but I can assure you you’ll be alright,” one boy said.  
  


He had dark purple hair and black glasses that framed his grey eyes, similar to the bluenette boy. He had a black vest with a white short-sleeved shirt underneath, and he was shorter than Zenjin by a bit. He had a black belt with khaki cargo shorts and white sneakers.

The other boy, the blue-haired one, was much taller, and was dressed in medical scrubs a shade of light blue, with a white medical jacket on top. He looked somewhat similar to the person in the comedy stage that Denbe and the others watched last weekend, but Denbe could tell it wasn’t the same person, because their voices and appearances didn’t match.

One thing Denbe failed to notice prior was that there was a streak of black hair in the mess of blue hair. Along with that, he also noticed that he had dark brown eyes.

“Yes, I agree with Jiro. Just… breathe. Like this.”  
  


And the bluenette boy helped calm Zenjin down, sitting xem on the ground as he breathed in and out in a pattern, Zenjin soon following until xe was calmed down.

“Seiichi, you’re the best. Thank you,” the person named “Jiro” thanked “Seiichi.”

“No problem,” he responded.

“Not to intrude, but, uh… who are you guys?” Zenjin asked, somewhat stunned. “You two… are really good at this.”

“Oh, it’s not much of an issue. The name is Seiichi Ueno, and I’m the ultimate doctor. My colleague and friend…”

  
“That would be me. I’m Jiro Watanabe, the ultimate psychologist. Oh, and before I forget, he/him pronouns.”

“The same for me,” Seiichi added.

The two of them took a bow.

“Alright, sweet!” Zenjin cheered, as xe headed for the back to hide.

“We work at the nearby hospital, Kibou-no-Yume. Though I suggest you don’t… well, intrude into our workplace simply to say hi, as we will most likely be busy and whatnot with other patients,” Jiro explained.

“Yep!” Seiichi agreed.

“Alright, if that’s all for you two, may I go next?” one girl asked.  
  


“OOH! ME TOO!” a boy chipped in.

“Okay, jeez, you couldn’t have asked in a quieter way?” the girl asked, chuckling to the boy. “But sure, go ahead if you wish. Heh.”

“Alright!” the boy cheered, and the two of them headed over to the center.

  
  
  


“Hey, there!” the girl gave a wave. “I’m Kara Takahashi.”

“Hello!” the boy also waved. “The name’s Shane, though you can call me ‘Shock’ if you want to.”

“I’m the Ultimate Engineer, she/her,” Kara told everyone.

“I’m the Ultimate Inventor, he/him,” Shock added.

“And together, we’re the Techno Duo!” they said in unison, as sparks flew when they high-fived each other, much to everyone’s astonishment.

  
  


“WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WAIT.” Hakuto interrupted. “You’re THAT Techno Duo?!”

“Heh, you bet! We’re the team of U.S. high school freshmen that worked together alongside two self-proclaimed detectives to solve a string of crimes in our hometown of Rockwood related to a mass-scale hacking breach! Sadly, Jackson and Lacey, the detective duo, couldn’t make it in, but we’ll still do our best on their behalf!”

The two of them were in matching outfits. Shock, the boy, had some short black hair, with one bright streak of yellow. He also had some sparkly blue eyes, a royal blue shade. 

He wore a grey varsity jacket. The sleeves were black, and the cuffs were black-and-red striped. He also wore denim jeans and jet-black sneakers. On his hands were also some black gloves.

At this point, Denbe was finding it odd how so many people had gloves on. But it’s not like he could really do anything about it except point out this… odd circumstance? Coincidence? Not like he would, really.

Oh, well, he shouldn’t be analyzing this anyway, just checking out their outfits since everyone’s required to dress accordingly based on their ultimate talent.

“Back to analyzing!” he thought.

Kara had a nearly-identical outfit. She had brown hair, tied into a ponytail, with a green streak in her hair. She had green eyes. She had the same jacket as Shock, except for the fact that instead of red stripes on the cuffs, hers were orange.

She had dark purple jeans to accompany her vivid purple sneakers.

And finally, she had white gloves to oppose Shock’s black ones.

“That’s an… odd combo, to say the least,” Hakuto interjected. “You’ve got Shock here with the primary colors, as well as black gloves. Then Kara here’s got the secondary colors and white gloves. You two do… a lot of coordination to say the least.”

“Heh, yeah… the two of us have been… pretty inseparable to say the least. We’ve been best friends since birth in the town of Rockwood. Oh, uh, in Pennsylvania.”

“Ah, yes, I think I can recall there being more than one Rockwood in the United States.”

“Yeah…”

“Thank you for your introductions, nevertheless. I suppose I’ll be going now.”

Hakuto headed to the center as Shock and Kara headed out, and took a graceful bow.

“Greetings, everyone. My name is Hakuto Shin, and I am the leader of the band known as Wild Card. I’m the ultimate guitarist. I use he/him pronouns. It’s nice to meet you all."

Everyone said their greetings as Hakuto chuckled.

“I’m not sure if I’ve revealed this before, but generally if I’m not with the band performing or practicing, I like to visit the _Institute of Nature Study_. It’s located in Minato City, not too far from here. Quite peaceful, and I appreciate the beauty of nature. It’s… probably not the best time to go, though. I’m not sure how the… er… the nature is right now, apologies. I think the prettier stuff is out of season at this point.”

“...I think you’re right about that,” someone spoke up.

“Hm?”

A green-eyed girl moved to the front within the small crowd. She had a blue beret with an orange bow. She wore a simple white jacket with a lavender shirt underneath. She had denim jeans, and black-and-white boots. She also wore a blue-and-orange backpack on her back.

“Generally, the best time to visit the Institute is at the end of March. I’ve been there lots of times, really.”

Her voice sounded so… ditzy, to Hakuto, that it shocked him when she said her next words.

  
  
  


“Oops, sorry to interrupt without an introduction. I’m Mitsuko Okamoto, the ultimate survivalist!”

Needless to say, quite a few people dropped their jaws.

“WHAT?!” Zenjin exclaimed, as xe failed to stop xemself from laughing.

“...that’s… I’m astonished, really, but good LORD, I’m sorry about the reactions-” Hakuto began.

“Oh, no, you don’t need to apologize. I get that a lot, really. What did you all think my ultimate talent was?”

“Fashionista,” Keiko chipped in.

“Vlogger,” Daisuke added.

“Rich girl?” Jiro contributed.

“Model?” Kara thought aloud.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that a lot, really. I definitely appreciate you guys being honest though,” she giggled. “But yeah, I’m the ultimate survivalist! Though… I have yet to go on any major missions-slash-adventures…”

“Really? What have you done so far?” Hakuto inquired.

“Oh, well, I’ve gone on trips to the Amazon. That’s one. Two, Sahara Desert, three, Gobi, four, the tropics, can’t remember too much, and five, the Himalayas. Oops, wait, technically… are the tropics considered the Amazon? Oops, I mean the other way round.”

“...that’s a lot, to be honest.”

“It really wasn’t. I could never really break out of my shell until the Amazon trip, to say the least. The effects of the blaze really took a toll on the ecosystems and I think quite a few species may have been endangered or even may have gone extinct thanks to that fire. I think that’s where it all started. It was a lot, really.”

“Sadly, I’ve yet to do much, and… I just wish I could do more, you know? Those other trips were basically just tons of nothing. Except the Himalayas trip. That was a bit… much, to say the least.”

“I see. Thank you for sharing. Oh, and by the way, what exactly happened on the Amazon trip? You didn’t say what had happened to make you come out of your shell!” Hakuto mentioned.

“Oh, well, it’s just as I said!” Mitsuko chuckled.

And then…

“I got caught in the fire when it had just started! Needless to say there was a LOT of panic with the rest of my group, but thankfully I managed to get them all out in time without too much damage. I lost a beret in the process, but what’s one beret when there are tons of lives on the line, really?” she rambled, much to the shock of **quite literally everyone else in the room.**

  
  
  
  
  
  


“...”

  
  
  
  
  
  


Silence.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Then…

  
  
  
  
  
  


“Can we take a break? I think this is all a fever dream. Someone help me, I think I’m gonna faint,” Zenjin groaned.

“Oh, no- Seiichi, I’m gonna need some help here,” Jiro quickly told Seiichi.

“Alright, everyone, quick break, I’m going to go help xem out, you all stay here, okay?” Seiichi said to everyone, as the three of them headed downstairs to the infirmary.

  
  
  


“You heard him! TAKE FOUR, EVERYONE!” Hakuto shouted.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**[Introductions: 13/22 complete]**

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is appreciated!


	11. Introductions of Class 88 [2/2]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final nine ultimates are introduced, just in time for the school day to finally begin!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it, folks, all 22 of them are introduced! Now, their first day of school is the final long plot arc I'll be going through, and then things will start to speed up from there and we'll be back to actual chats soon!

**[Resume Introductions]**

  
  
  


Jiro came back a few minutes later by himself.

“Seiichi and Zenjin are in the infirmary,” he explained. “Seiichi told me to stay up here in case anything else occurs.”

“Alright, gotcha,” Hakuto acknowledged. “Anyone that wants to go up, you can go up now.”

“Ooh, sure!’ someone chirped, and immediately after someone cartwheeled their way in, nearly crashing into Hakuto in the process.

“AH! Careful!”

“My mistake, sorry.”

They removed the hood of their black hoodie to reveal short black hair cut in a bob. They had bright pink eyes and a bright smile on their face.

They had black sweatpants, and orange sneakers.

“Hey there! I’m Sashihara Yamaguchi, and I’m the ultimate fitness trainer! She/her’s the pronouns, and, uh, nice to meet you all!”

“Cool, it’s nice to see someone’s bright and peppy today!”

“Hakuto, you jerk! What about the rest of us…” Akira groaned, slugging Hakuto’s right arm in a joking manner.

“Ouch, I’m hurt, heh. Sorry, though, Akira,” Hakuto apologized.

“No need, it’s alright,” she laughed.

“And… not meaning to be rude here, but I got interrupted, so…”

“Oh, god, sorry,” Hakuto groaned. “Continue, please.”

“Glad to do so! As I’ve said, I’m the ultimate fitness trainer! I generally can be found at the _Konami Sports Club_ in Shibuya City, and I generally am just there if you need me, no fee! It’s a fun process, really. I’m glad to help if you need me too! And… over and out, anyone wanna go next?”

"I think I will, I’ve… been itching to introduce myself, really.”

A person with dark red hair and blue eyes made his way to the front of the crowd.

He wore a fancy, dark blue suit vest over a white button-up shirt and a blue bowtie. With that, he had dark black pants held up by a black leather belt, and black heeled shoes.

“The name’s Hachiro Hirano. I use he/him pronouns, I work at Slurpy, and I’m the ultimate mixologist!”

“Slurpy? The new food chain store that opened a year or so ago?” Akira questioned.

“Yes, that one. I… like to mix it up a notch when it comes to the drinks. Eventually that just… well, it turned into an entire talent, and… I got scouted, funnily enough, when the talent scouts were off-duty and needed a quick lunch break, heh.”

“That’s so cool! Imagine you’re just going for lunch and then it’s just ‘...holy shit, you’re going to Hope’s Peak, don’t say a word, you’re in,’” Akira imagined, as she laughed.

“Yeah, it… went that way, definitely, to say the least,” Hachiro chuckled. “Well, I’ve done my intro, I think the time’s almost up, so we might need to hurry it up here. Quickly now, rapid-fire!”

“Got it!” the next person shouted, as they rushed to the center quickly, a flash of sky-blue hair, lighter than Seiichi’s, and similar to that of seawater.

They also had bright blue eyes, and along with that they had a white jacket, a blue t-shirt underneath, black cargo pants with the cuffs rolled up, and brown sneakers. A blue necklace with one circular decoration adorned his neck.

“Hello, everyone! Daigo Sugimoto, ultimate swimming pro, he/him. That’s all I’ll say for right now because we’re in a bit of a rush, and-”

_“Attention, everyone. There are 10 minutes remaining for your introductory period. After that, you will all be introduced to your teachers. I wish you well.”_ Mr. Kirigiri’s voice boomed on the loudspeaker, before cutting off.

“Oh, I guess… the others will have a lot of time to introduce themselves then…” he awkwardly chuckled, as he rushed to the back of the crowd.

“...you alright?” Jiro asked him.

“I’m just… shy, really, that’s it,” Daigo reassured Jiro. “I don’t really like large crowds, to say the least.”

“Understandable. Neither do I, it ruins my focus…” someone else commented.

A short, blonde-haired girl with blue glasses and hazel-brown eyes headed to the center. She had a baby-pink sweater and grey sweatpants to accompany her brown ankle-high boots.

“Hello, everyone. I’ll… do my best for the introduction. My name is Sumi Sasaki, and I am the ultimate tailor. Nice to meet you all.”

“Oh, you too?” Daigo chuckled. “I… can understand that, yeah. But… aren’t you renowned for your mass-production of clothing in all different fashions and whatnot? I’d… think you might be more sociable, y’know?”

“Yeah… but truth be told, I just don’t like being around people too much. I never have been good with small talk, really…”

“Well, if it’ll help you, I can go next!” Akira offered.

“That’d be great, thank you,” Sumi thanked her, as Akira took her spot.

“Alright! You’ve seen me before, but I am Akira Hayashi. I use she/her pronouns, and I’m the ultimate keyboardist!” she introduced herself, as Sumi let out a groan.

“I knew I missed something… I use she/her pronouns, sorry.”

“No, no, it’s fine.”

“AH, FUCK, I FORGOT TO INTRODUCE MYSELF-”

Mitsuo made a mad dash for the center, knocking Akira into Ryosuke’s (thankfully ready) arms.

“Ow! Watch it!”

“Fuck, sorrry, Akira, this is the WORST way to introduce myself-”

“It’s fine, just be more careful next time.”

“Y-Yeah, will do!” he replied, giving a shaky smile and a wavering thumbs-up.

“You got this, I know it!”

“A-Alright, let’s fucking do this!” he exclaimed. “S’up, bitches? I’m Mitsuo Iruma, a person with a mechanical mind and a body ready to put into action with my true passion! Ultimate Mechanic, at your service!”

“Oh, and uh, he/him pronouns,” he added, as an afterthought.

“Alright! Nice to meet ya!” Sashihara said. “I like the enthusiasm!”

“Running out of time, Mitsuo! I’ll go up next!”

A girl with bright-orange hair tied up in a high ponytail headed up to the center, with icy-cyan eyes. She had a white chef’s uniform with black pants, a black watch on her right wrist, and pink boots. A chef’s toque sat on her head,

“Hi, everyone!”

“Wait a second, you’re-” Ryosuke began, only to get interrupted by her again.

“If you don’t already know me, I’m Hana Kinoshita! I ended up here as the ultimate chef, pleasure to meet you all! I use she/her pronouns.”

“Oh, my god, I’m such a huge fan of your cooking show!” Daisuke chipped in.

“Me too!” Aika added.

“So am I,” Mitsuo commented. “It’s amazing that we’ve got so many famous people here this year, hot damn!”

“No kidding. Now, I’m pretty sure we only have five minutes left, so…” 

Hana snatched a glance at her wristwatch.

“Yep. Five minutes. Now, are we forgetting anyone?”

“Me!” Ryosuke shouted, as he dashed to the center. “Ryosuke Murakami, he/him pronouns, ultimate drummer! That should be everyone, right?”

Murmurs of agreement were heard through the entire crowd as they all chatted amongst themselves.

“Yeah, that should be everyone,” Mitsuo concluded. “We’re all introduced!”

  
  
  


“We’re not,” Michi interrupted.

He had been typing on his keyboard the entire time, and had decided to speak up now.

“There are 22 of you here. Right now, including me, I’ve only heard 21 people go. Someone’s missing.”

“I think I found him…” Sumi spoke up, and everyone turned to look in her direction.

Right next to her, someone was busy sketching something, a pen in his right hand.

“Uh… sir? Hello?”

He didn’t answer at all, too busy in whatever he was doing to listen.

“Hello?” Sumi asked again.

The person finally moved out of his position, and Sumi was about to release a sigh of relief…

  
  


...until he tossed his pen up in the air, catching it when it fell down.

  
  


“Hang on!” Sumi interrupted, and the boy finally seemed to snap out of it.

  
  


“Wh-huh?” he stuttered, confused.

“You haven’t introduced yourself to us yet!”

“Huh? Oh, right, sorry.”

He got out of the desk he was sitting at, and headed to the front.

He had blue hair that faded into red at the roots. One yellow streak interrupted the ombre effect his hair had, and bright green eyes stared at the crowd.

“Hi. I’m Arrin Koruda. I’m the ultimate artist, and I use he/him pronouns.”

He then headed back to his desk and went back to drawing.

“...uh… is that all?”

Arrin nodded, and everyone seemed to be at a loss for words, until the loudspeaker boomed again.

_“Attention, students. Your introductory period has now finished. Please take a seat, your teachers will be with you shortly. Miu has gotten the bots up and running, so be alert, as some robotic bears will be entering the classroom shortly.”_ Mr. Kirigiri announced.

Everyone rushed to pick a desk, and thankfully all four Wild Card members got desks close to one another, in a square.

Moments later, the 9:00 bell rang, and now the school day was finally about to begin.

**[Introductions: 22/22 complete]**

**[End Prologue]**

**[Starting school day...]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is appreciated!


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